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THBLARGE TANG DYNASTY ZODIAC SET - TL TESTED
Lot 241
Live Auction in Progress ... Currently on Lot Estimate:
GBP£15,000 - GBP£30,000
$18,987.34 - $37,974.68
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About Auction
Live
By Apollo Art Auctions
Oct 9, 2022
Set Reminder
2022-10-09 07:00:00
2022-10-09 07:00:00
America/New_York
Bidsquare
Bidsquare : ANCIENT ART & ANTIQUITIES
https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/apollo-art-auctions/ancient-art-antiquities-10431
Apollo Art Auctions is delighted to present a magnificent 9th of October 2022 sale of Ancient Art & Antiquities. The sale is divided into three sections: Classical and Egyptian, Masterpieces of Ancient Asia and Medieval Antiquities and Ancient Weaponry. Apollo Art Auctions enquiries@apolloauctions.com
Apollo Art Auctions is delighted to present a magnificent 9th of October 2022 sale of Ancient Art & Antiquities. The sale is divided into three sections: Classical and Egyptian, Masterpieces of Ancient Asia and Medieval Antiquities and Ancient Weaponry. Apollo Art Auctions enquiries@apolloauctions.com
View Full Catalog (499)
- Lot Description
Ca. 618–907 AD An elaborate set of twelve terracotta zodiac figures modelled with animal heads supported on human bodies wearing court dresses (shenyi) consisting of a long waistcoat in several hues tied at the waist over dresses with long flaring sleeves. The hands are folded in front of the chest. Zodiac figures represent the Chinese repeating twelve-year cycle calendar in which each year is associated with a different animal. The twelve Zodiac animals are the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the goat, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, and the pig. The tradition of sculpting terracotta figurines into zodiac representations might have originated during the Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 220). The Han dynasty artisans would cast these animal representations in bronze as offerings. Beginning in the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 AD) the zodiac figures presented with human bodies, such as in the present lot, became funerary sculpture that would be moulded either in standing or kneeling positions. The zodiac figures were often placed in a north-south direction in coffin chambers to represent the progress of time. People hoped that such an arrangement would encourage the god to time to guard the tomb. Compare a similar yet smaller set of twelve painted pottery zodiac figures in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, several of which have been exhibited throughout the years, including the monkey in Monkey Business: Celebrating the Year of the Monkey (2016). Another set from the Shaanxi History Museum, Xi'an, was exhibited in the China, 5000 Years: Innovation and Transformation in the Arts, at the Guggenheim Museum, New York 1998. For a recent smaller set of Tang zodiac figures sold at Christie’s, https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6187266. Size: Set of 12; L: 450mm / W: 145 mm; average weight 3.3kg per piece, total: 40kg Provenance: East Anglian private collection; formerly acquired in the early 1990s in Hong Kong.
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