Tang Dynasty, 618-906 AD. A painted ceramic figure of a reclining camel with opened mouth, thick mane, large saddle with a seated figure of a foreigner with long dark curly beard and hair, wearing a knee-long robe and a conical hat. [A video of this lot is available on the TimeLine Auctions website] 10.87 kg, 54cm (21 1/4"). From the Cheuk family collection. Supplied with a copy of the item's positive Thermoluminescence analysis certificate number C116c53 undertaken by Oxford Authentication. Camels symbolised the prosperity of the Silk Route trade routes between China, Europe, and the Middle East because they were the main form of transportation in the caravans. A popular theme for Tang court painters and sculptors was that of foreign ambassadors submitting tribute to the emperor. Diplomatic missions and the concomitant opulent offerings were an important medium of international exchange. In the dynasty’s first decades, the Tang expanded control north and east to Goguryeo and Baekje in Manchuria and the Korean peninsula, north to the steppes of Mongolia, west to the deserts and oases of Central Asia, and south to parts of the present-day provinces of Guangxi, Yunnan, and northern Vietnam. These and other kingdoms sent staples and exotica: lions from Persia and rhinoceroses from the kingdom of Champa in south and central Vietnam, hawks from the Korean peninsula, ostriches sent by Western Turks, sandalwood from the Indonesian archipelago, cardamom from the coast of the Malay peninsula, indigo from Samarkand, and wool from Tibet. As is evident in tomb paintings and figurines, international trade whetted a taste for striking and sumptuous fashions among the Tang elite. Leopard-skin hats and close-fitting sleeves, imitating the clothing of Central Asians and Persians to the west, were popular in the mid-eighth century. High boots, practical for riding, were worn by both men and women, as were short tunics.

Finely modeled.