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 with white slip and color pigments. Yellow for the body, and a reddish brown for the 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 tail is in the round and flicked up onto the rump. 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. Condition : good, no visible repairs, color fading, abrasions as is usual with burial pieces of this age. Provenance : bought in 2007 from the MING GALLERY in the US. Their certificate of authenticity is provided and visible in the picture gallery. In 2018, the new owner had it TL tested to ensure authenticity, certificate from Ralf Kotalla, consistent with the Tang dating (about 1200 years old) . Important information. The seller guarantees that he is entitled to ship this lot. It will be safely sent by Courier. 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. Catawiki disclaimer: This piece has been dated based on a TL test. No further tests, such as, an analysis of pigments or radiography scans have been conducted to check the integrity of the piece.