Tang Dynasty, 618-906 AD. A hollow-formed ceramic figure of a guard standing on the shoulders of a grotesque figure kneeling on an integral base; the guard is modelled in an aggressive bodily stance, wears a fierce facial expression, a fiery headpiece crowned by a phoenix, and armour plating with dragon-head terminals at the shoulders; red, blue, green and black pigmentation survives. 4.4 kg, 63cm (24 3/4"). From a west country collection in the 1990s; previously in a Hong Kong collection; accompanied by a copy of a thermoluminescence test report issued by Laboratory Kotalla of Germany, report number 43CM110520.