A sancai-glazed figure of a caparisoned horse and a groom, Tang dynasty | 唐 三彩馬及馬夫俑

A sancai-glazed figure of a caparisoned horse and a groom
Tang dynasty
唐 三彩馬及馬夫俑

the horse standing four-square on a rectangular base, its harnessed head turned slightly to the left, ears pricked, the main and forelock in cream with the body covered in a dark chestnut glaze, the breast strap and the crupper applied with florets and hung with leaf-shaped ornaments modelled in high relief with toads and glazed in cream and green, the saddle unglazed, the moustachioed groom standing with arms raised wearing a green and chestnut-glazed long tunic, the head, hands and feet unglazed,
2
Height of horse 50 cm, 19¾ in.
Height of the groom 43 cm, 17 in.

Condition Report:
The horse has restoration to breaks around each of the lower legs and to both ears, and loss to the pigments on the unglazed saddle.
The groom has a break around the neck and to the right forearm, an area of glaze firing imperfection to the front of the ochre tunic and light rubbing and loss to the pigments on the head and face.