Ca. 618-907 AD. A beautiful terracotta horse with a long neck artistically turned up, standing on an integral falt base. The animal has a chestnut-coloured body, short mane and docked tail. Warhorses were the pride of the Tang, a dynasty of prosperity, military expansion, and artistic achievement. For more information on the importance of horses in China, see: Cooke, B. (ed.) (2000). Imperial China - The Art of the Horse in Chinese History: Exhibition Catalogue. Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington. For more general information on the Tang Dynasty, see: Benn, C. (2002). Daily Life in Traditional China: The Tang Dynasty. Westport: Greenwood Press and Watt, J. C. Y., et al. (2004). China: Dawn of a Golden Age, 200-750 A.D. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Cf. Christie's, Live Auction 5614, Asian Art, 15 December 2010, Lot 278. 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:690mm / W:655mm ; 17.88kgProvenance: From the private collection of a Somerset gentleman; previously in an old British collection, formed in the 1980s on the UK /European art markets.