Chinese Song Celadon Glazed Box

With piriform body, short neck, everted rim and rectangular-section loop handles, the upper body painted with ovals filled with various geometric motifs and hatched lines, contained between plain bands, swags below, chevrons at the neck. 3.2 kg. 35.5 cm high



Ex West Country, UK, collection, 1990s.

Each modelled in the round, standing with arms held within voluminous sleeves in front of the body, with semi-naturalistic facial features and dressed in floor-length courtly robes, one supporting a small dog and the other a broad dish; heads separately modelled; hollow-formed hexagonal-section green-glazed tiered bases. 14.5 kg total, 76-77.5 cm high



From a West Country, UK, collection, formed in the 1990s.

Modelled on a rectangular base, the horse standing in harness and with a long saddlecloth; the rider modelled seated in the saddle, arms held before the body, holding cymbals. 1.65 kg, 30.5 cm high



Ex North Yorkshire, UK, collection, 1990s.

The finest of ceramic figures during the Ming Dynasty have a simplicity and compactness of modelling that makes them extremely impressive. Far greater freedom of movement was possible in ceramic sculpture, which now lent an air of gaiety and splendour already glittering with yellow, blue, and green tiles. Boldly conceived figures of men and horses in green-and-brown-glazed terracotta (liu-li) are splendid examples of the confident manner in which Ming craftsmen revived and transformed the style of the Tang Dynasty. These attendants on horseback are excellent examples of Ming Dynasty tomb pottery. The glazed sculptures were placed in burial chambers in order to flaunt social status, wealth, and power.