Tang Dynasty, 618-906 AD. A ceramic figure formed as a walking horse, saddled, head to one side, whinnying; ears erect, wide eyes beneath raised brows, cropped mane, open mouth, short dressed tail; musculature suggested by depressed lines of varying depths; suggestion of hair around the mouth; black, pink, red and grey painted pigmentation survives. See Thorp, R., Son of Heaven: Imperial Arts of China, Seattle, 1988. 13.8 kg, 68cm (26 3/4"). From a 1970s west country collection, latterly in a London collection; accompanied by a copy of a positive thermoluminescence report issued by Laboratory Kotalla; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10173-166766. The Tang dynasty, with its capital at Chang'an, the most populous city in the world at the time, is regarded by historians as a high point in Chinese civilization - equal, or even superior, to the Han period. The Tang period was considered the golden age of literature and art. Stimulated by contact with India and the Middle East, the empire saw a flowering of creativity in many fields. At its peak, the Tang empire stretched from the Caspian Sea to the Pacific, from Manchuria and Korea in the north into Vietnam in the south. Within the country, commerce and cultural ideas thrived and spread through trade to Europe and even the court at Byzantium. Tang China was cosmopolitan and tolerant, welcoming new ideas and other religions. Within this environment, literature, painting, and the ceramic arts flourished. With a history reaching back to before the third century BC, tomb figures and furnishings were an important aspect of the Chinese culture. They also constituted a sizable amount of the ceramics produced during the Tang dynasty. Even in death, members of the wealthy, cosmopolitan Tang society sought to surround themselves with replicas of the splendid riches they had enjoyed during life. These objects were buried in tombs to provide for the needs of the deceased in the afterlife. Preparations for the tomb, which usually began well in advance of death, included the purchase of literally hundreds of pottery ming qi, or 'articles of the spirit,' such as figures of servants, musicians, and professional attendants; models of domestic and foreign animals; guardian spirits; and vessels from everyday life. The tomb furnishings that have survived are important social and cultural documents of the history of life during the Tang period. [a video of this item will be available on Timeline Auctions website.]