A Magnificent Pair of 'Sancai'-Glazed Earth Spirits Tang dynasty

each mythical beast with the powerful body of a lion and the legs and cloven hooves of a deer, with flame-like wings protruding from the shoulders, the human features of the first with large focused eyes, short nose and full lips, and with large flaring elephant-like ears and a flame-like horn rising from his forehead in front of two smaller horns on top of the unglazed head, the body covered in a chestnut glaze, with the chest, the back and the wings splashed with cream and green, the underbelly and forelegs glazed in cream, the front hooves in brown and the rear hooves in green; the second figure with a fierce lion's head, shown in a menacing snarl with teeth bared, the unglazed face and chest surmounted by two knobbed deer-like horns and a stylized spiky mane extending onto the shoulders glazed in green and brown, the body similarly glazed in chestnut with the whole of the back splashed with cream and green, the chest and two areas of the wings left unglazed, the belly and forelegs glazed in cream, both seated on a pierced rockwork base splashed in green, cream and chestnut glazes, with traces of red, and with black pigment on the faces (2)

Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Ezekiel Schloss (until 1984).
Sotheby's New York, 3rd December 1984, lot 7.
Thereafter with the present owners.

Tomb Sculpture, Epcot Center, Orlando, 1982, col. pl. 47 and 48.
Eastside House Winter Antiques Show, Special Loan Exhibition, p. 29, 30.
Selections of Chinese Art from Private Collections, China House Gallery, China Institute in America, 18th October 1986 - 4th January 1987, cat.no. 32.

Ezekiel Schloss, Ancient Chinese Ceramic Sculpture from Han through Tang, 2 vols., Conn., 1977, vol. I: pp 166-167; vol. II: colorplate XII.
Kotker, Antiques World, n.d., cat. no. 37.

The earth spirit with the lion's head: Inspected under UV light, which revealed fluorescence at the underbelly, the front two ankles and tops of the legs. There appears to be restoration to the wider areas of the triangular spikes, where they join the back of the head. The spike third from top of the left with a restored section one inch from the tip. On the right side, the spike third from bottom has restoration to the top 1 1/2 inches of the tip. Areas of repainted new amber glaze visible by the left hind leg. The right hind leg with small area of kiln grit. The earth spirit with the human face: Inspected under UV light. With fluorescence at the underbelly area, and at the top of legs. A small area of the bottom of the left wing with fluorescence. Some repainting to both hind legs. The pottery sculptures are a little lighter in tone that the catalogue images suggest.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Tomb guardian figures of this magnificent large size and exceptional quality of modeling are rare, indicating that the present pair was made in the workshops of either Luoyang or Chang'an, the two metropolitan centers of the Tang era in the late 7th and early 8th century.  Guardian figures of this type were usually found in pairs accompanied by a further pair of human-form guardian warriors strategically positioned at the entrances of Tang tombs. Both figures are covered in the typical Tang sancai glazes of vivid earth tones with the brightness of the green and the deep shade of the golden yellow-brown colors especially noteworthy. The sharp contrast between the opulence of the glazes and the areas left unglazed is particularly striking, heightening the dramatic impact of these figures. The figures are successfully sculpted to appear powerful yet flamboyant at the same time. Although the identification and iconography of these guardian creatures remains a source of debate, Tang burial regulations mention a group of four spirits with names given to two hybrid beasts, zuming (Ancestral Intelligence) and dizhu (Earth Axis). Other possible namings include qitou (Ugly Head), that appears in earlier Zhou and Han period texts, and tugui (Earth Spirit).

For comparable examples of guardian figures see a pair excavated from the tomb of Dugu Sizhen, dated to 697, in the suburbs of present day Xi'an, illustrated in Excavations of the Sui and Tang Tombs at Xian, Beijing, 1980, figs. 37 and 38. Another related pair, in the Avery Brundage Collection, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, is published in William Watson, Tang and Liao Ceramics, London, 1984, col. pls. 227 and 228, where the author notes that another name for the beast is zhenmushou or 'beast keeping the tomb in check' and that while beasts of this type belong to ancient tradition, the mask given to the horned creature has affinities with Iranian lions, appearing as another exotic allusion in eighth-century art (ibid., p. 205). Compare also a pair of glazed figures in the Tokyo National Museum included in the Illustrated Catalogues of Tokyo National Museum, Chinese Ceramics I, Tokyo, 1988, cat. nos. 197 and 198, of very similar size to the present pair. A pair of slightly larger figures, previously sold at Christie's New York, 18th September 1997, lot 350, was sold again in these rooms, 30th March 2006, lot 296; and a pair, from the collections of D.W. Rudorff and the British Rail Pension Fund, was sold in Monaco, 21st April 1979, lot 107, and again, in our London rooms, 12th December 1989, lot 58.