A pair of sancai-glazed pottery horses and ridersTang Dynasty The chestnut-glazed horses standing four-square on unglazed rectangular bases, the finely-moulded heads reaching forward, the male and female riders respectively wearing glazed green tunics, with finely painted faces, the arms raised and folded at the elbows, wood stands. Each 38cm (15in) long (4).注脚唐 三彩騎馬俑一對Provenance: Vanderven Oriental Art, 's-Hertogenbosch, 17 November 2003A Swiss private collection來源：荷蘭斯海爾托亨博斯古董商，Vanderven Oriental Art，2003年11月17日瑞士私人收藏The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no.C103c51, dated 28 February 2003, is consistent with the dating of this lot.Oxford Authentication Ltd公司熱釋光檢測結果（2003年2月28日，編號C103c51）顯示年代與本拍品年代一致。Modelled standing foursquare with tail cropped and bound, these finely modelled horses carry riders with clenched fists gazing unwaveringly ahead. Strong horses were imported into China from the north-western neighbouring regions of Karashar and Kutha. They were essential for travel and the transportation of goods, especially as demand for commerce increased with the flourishing of the Silk Road, but were also favoured by the nobility and employed in leisurely activities such as polo playing, dancing and hunting. Related sancai glazed groups of horse and rider, Tang dynasty, have been excavated from high-ranking burials in Luoyang, illustrated in Luoyang Tang dynasty Sancai, Beijing, 2980, pls.28, 30 and 31; another related pottery group of horse and rider, Tang, is illustrated by R.Krahl, Chinese Ceramics From the Meyintang Collection, London, 1994, vol.1, pp.118-119, pls.193-195.