Tang China Female String Musician Sancai Glazed Ceramic Ancient Medieval 800AD

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Nicely Preserved Ostensibly Eighth or Ninth Century A.D. Tang Dynasty Sancai Glazed Ceramic Statuette of a Female Musician Holding a Stringed Instrument (Probably a “Guzheng” or “Guqin”).<br>CLASSIFICATION<br>: Ceramic Statuette.<br>ATTRIBUTION<br>: In the Style of Ancient China, Tang Dynasty, 8th or 9th Century A.D. Possibly a Ming Dynasty or 18th or 19th Century Qing Dynasty Revival Imitative.<br>SIZE/MEASUREMENTS<br>:<br>Height: 149 millimeters (6 inches).<br>Breadth: 80 millimeters (3 1/4 inches).<br>Thickness: 81 millimeters (3 1/4 inches).<br>CONDITION<br>: Very good, no repairs but the majority of glaze is gone. A little wear and a few blemishes consistent with any decorative item which was buried for over one thousand years. Not flawless, but certainly in a better than average state of preservation – and unrepaired! Stands on its own.<br>DETAIL<br>: A nicely preserved clay statuette so wonderfully characteristic of Tang Dynasty statuary. Sancai, or three-color glazes principally in yellow, green and brown was a development of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). Sancai ("three-colored") wares were first made for burial, using lead-based glazes that produced mottled and streaky effects in green, amber-brown, and cream, with an occasional addition of blue or black. The production of such exquisite porcelain items required multiple firings of fine white clay at temperatures near 1000c (1800f) degrees. A wide variety of statuettes were commonly produced such as musicians, chamberlains (butlers), maids, cooks, even animals; all designed to serve their deceased master.<br>In early Tang dynasty, production of sancai pottery figurines dominated the pottery scene, and their production continued well into the Ming era which advanced the art with more intense colors and finer porcelain clay. The pottery and porcelain figures produced from the Tang all the way through the Ming Dynasties are famous even until today for their beautiful multicolored glazes occurring on both mortuary pieces for funerary use as well as on utilitarian pieces for use in China as well as exported to Egypt and elsewhere. However it was the artisans of the Tang Dynasty which started the tradition of producing these funerary statuettes. This piece is a long ways away from being perfect. Some of the sancai glaze has decomposed due to the caustic action of the alkaline soil within which it was buried. However ordinarily statuary like this is unearthed in pieces – shattered. So the fact that this is unrepaired and intact is noteworthy.<br>Although it is probable that this specimen is much older, it is also possible that this piece might be a revivalist imitative produced for the European market of the 18th or 19th century. It is widely known that Chinese porcelain and other ceramic artwork was quite popular in Victorian Europe. Carrying Chinese porcelain from China to Europe was an<br>industry<br>for the seafaring mariners of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Entire fleets of sailing ships plied the trade, especially the Dutch and English. However in addition to porcelain, ancient Chinese ceramics were also extremely popular in Victorian Europe, where Chinese ceramic artwork was highly appreciated and in great demand.<br>Although the style of this specimen is very convincing and suggests it might indeed be of Tang Dynasty origin, a large portion of the antique/ancient Chinese ceramics in Europe date to the late Ming, or 18th or 19th century Qing, so it is quite possible that this is an imitative revival piece. Judging by the style it is likely considerably older, but only a $1,000 thermoluminescence test would establish this conclusively (and even then the reliability and accuracy of such testing is still debated). So we’ll simply err on the side of being conservative and suggest that you consider it a revival piece, and if it is indeed older, so much the better. However whether an antique several centuries old, or an antiquity a few centuries older, this is a valuable and collectible piece of art.<br>The depiction here is a very traditional, beautiful portrayal of a female musician holding a stringed instrument, probably the instrument known in ancient China as the “Guzheng”, or perhaps a “Guqin”. Of course there is the customary and expected minor scuffs, marks, dings, etc., all evidence of a lifespan of many centuries spent mostly buried. Realistically one would expect some blemishes after such an extended period of burial, and there are no surprises here except that there are so few blemishes. Overall the statuette is in very good condition and is a highly collectible piece of Tang Dynasty ancient Chinese sancai ceramic art. If you’d like an authentic piece of Ta