Ca. 618-907 AD A terracotta female musician figure playing paixiao - the wind instrument, made of edge-blown bamboo pipes, which are mounted in one row in a flat, wooden handle. The lady is depicted in a kneeling position, wearing a long reddish skirt covering her legs, a cream bodice, and a green shawl thrown over the shoulder. Her hair is neatly combed into a coiffure consisting of a high topknot, and her face is covered with white pigment, on which thin, slightly arched eyebrows and narrow eyes have been outlined in black pigment, and the small mouth has been painted in red pigment. The highest-rated musicians at the Tang court performed seated, while the lower ranks played standing and were also treated less well in other respects. This piece has been precisely dated by means of a Thermo Luminescence analysis carried out by Ralf Kotalla, an independent German Laboratory. The samples collected date the piece to the period reflected in its style, whilst also showing no modern trace elements. The TL certificate with its full report will accompany this lot.Size: L:220mm / W:95mm ; 970gProvenance: Property of London Art gallery; formerly in a Somerset estate collection, acquired in Hong Kong in the 1980s-90s.