A MONUMENTAL PAINTED AND GILDED POTTERY FIGURE OF LOKAPALA, TANG DYNASTY China, 618-907. Powerfully modeled, shown standing atop a recumbent deer with one foot on its head and the other on its rump, overall in a dramatic pose with the right hand raised to hold a coiled snake (removable, made of unfired clay). His face with intense gaze below the tall phoenix-form crown, the belly protrudes from underneath his layered armor worn under long robes which trail down from the broad, stiff collar. The armor and robes are picked out in turquoise, blue and orange pigment and painted with floral scroll, the edges of the armor are richly gilded. Such original gilding still being well preserved on a Tang Dynasty statue is extremely rare! Provenance: An Italian private collection. Galerie Zacke, Vienna, December 12th, 2002. Dr. Mons Fischer, acquired from the above for EUR €40,950. A copy of the invoice from Galerie Zacke, Vienna, December 12th, 2002, is accompanying this lot. A seasoned private collector of modern and contemporary art, Dr. Mons Fischer has also acquired fine Chinese works of art since the 1980s, eventually building one of the most important collections of its kind in Austria. Condition: Some repair and touchups with modern polychromes, all exactly as expected from original Tang dynasty excavations of this size. Losses, fissures and encrustations. Three drilled holes from sampletaking. Overall superb condition. Scientific Report 1: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on February 13th, 2020, based on sample number C120a49, sets the firing date of three samples taken at 900 - 1500 years ago. A copy of the report, issued by Oxford Authentication, is accompanying this lot. Scientific Report 2: A detailed pigment and gilding analysis report, issued by Laboratoire M.S.M.A.P. SARL, Sciences des Materiaux Anciens et du Patrimoine - Etude des objets d'art, Nr. MSMAP 20-036 OA, dated March 3rd, 2020, is accompanying this object. (please also see detailed scans of the report online at www.zacke.at) The study reveals the presence of an ancient gilding and remains of an ancient polychromy on the sculpture. Repaints of a modern polychromy have been detected as well, see condition report. Weight: 46.9 kg Dimensions: Height 162 cm (including the base), 140 cm (just the statue including the snake) and 127 cm (just the statue) Modern base, enabling 360° rotation of the statue. (2) Literature comparison: Figures of this type were placed in the entry corridor of tombs, along with pairs of officials and pairs of earth spirits, as evidenced by the location of such figures in the previously undisturbed Tang dynasty tomb of General An Pu discovered at Longmen, Luoyang. See R.L. Thorp, Son of Heaven: Imperial Art of China, Seattle, 1988, pp. 199-205. A painted pottery lokapala similar to the present figure, elaborately armored, but of much smaller size (71.1 cm.), is in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, and is illustrated in The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, Hudson Hills Press, New York, 1993, p. 293. Auction result comparison: Compare with a closely related but much smaller pair of Lokapalas at Christies New York in Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art (Parts I & II), 22 - 23 March 2012, lot 1961, sold for USD $86,500. 彩繪天王陶像，唐代 中國，618-907。雄壯威武的天王立像，站立在臥著的鹿背上，一隻腳踩在頭上，另一隻腳踩在背部，總體上是一個十分戲劇性的姿勢，右手抬起握住盤繞的蛇（可移動，由未燒製的粘土製成）。 雙眼圓睜，戴著鳳凰狀的皇冠，長袍分層盔甲。 盔甲和長袍部分使用青綠色、藍色和橙色顏料，花卉紋飾，盔甲的邊緣鍍金。 這樣的原始鎏金仍然保存的唐代雕像是極為罕見的！ 來源：一個意大利私人老收藏。維也納Zacke藝廊，2002年12月12日。Dr. Mons Fischer購於上述藝廊，成交價EUR €40.950。隨附發票複印件。Dr. Mons Fischer是一位經驗豐富的現代和當代藝術私人收藏家，從1980年代開始收藏中國藝術品，最終在奧地利建立了此類藏品最重要的收藏之一。 品相：用現代的彩色顏料進行的一些維修和修整，完全符合唐代原始發掘的此列石像的尺寸。 可見缺損、裂縫和結殼。爲了測試而造成的三個鑽孔。 總體狀況極佳。 科學報告：隨附牛津熱釋光測試報告拷貝與M.S.M.A.P. SARL研究所鎏金和彩繪顔料，測試報告掃描件請查詢www.zacke.at 重量：46.9 公斤 尺寸：含底座高162厘米，140厘米(佛像和蛇)，僅佛像127厘米 拍賣結果比較：一件類似但小些的一對天王2012年3月22-23日于紐約佳士得《中國陶瓷和工藝品（I & II）》拍號1961，成交價USD $86.500。