Mingqi - Pottery - Bactrian camel - with TL test - China - Tang Dynasty (618-907)

Outstanding pottery "mingqi" representing a walking camel. Dating back to the TANG dynasty (618-907) Molded from red pottery and covered in pigments. Yellow for the smooth body, and a reddish brown for the textured hair. Much of the original pigment still remaining. The camel is portrayed unsaddled, in a walking stance, standing foursquare on a terrace. . It is modeled with an expressive head held high on a long extended neck. The camel's humps are droopy, indicating it has just finished a long journey. The tail is in the round and flicked up onto the rump. The neck, head, humps and top of the legs are decorated with incised fur markings colored with red pigments. A sculpture such as this would have been made for a wealthy merchant, the camel as symbol of his earthly status and wealth. This mingqi reveals the Tang dynasty’s respect and admiration for this beast of burden, so essential to the prosperity of ancient China. This set comes with a TL certificate from Ralf Kotalla, consistent with the Tang dating (about 1300 years old) . Important information. The seller guarantees that he is entitled to ship this lot. It will be safely sent by Fed. Ex. The seller will take care that any necessary permits will be arranged. The seller will inform the buyer about this if this takes more than a few days. No shipping to USA according to regulations regarding archaeology.