A MOLDED POTTERY TILE WITH A FEMALE FIGURE
China, Jin dynasty

Wearing a loose dress, the figure is inserted in a lobed profile niche, holding with the hands a mouth organ (sheng).

27 cm high

Provenance: Italian private collection.
A group of four tiles similar to this one, each depicting a musician or a dancer, is kept in the Shanxi Museum (J.C.Y Watt, in The World of Khubilai Khan. Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty, New York 2010, p. 53, figs. 64-67: the author recalls the numerous celebrations that took place in the capital Dadu during the Jin and Yuan dynasties, to which this elegant tile also refers). A series of six comparable tiles, including one very similar to this one, was part of the Julia and John Curtis collection, sold at Christie's New York on March 22, 2019, lot 1617.