A PAINTED RED POTTERY FIGURE OF A COURT LADY, TANG DYNASTY China, 618-907. The lady is shown standing with her body elegantly swayed to one side and hands concealed in her wide sleeves falling down in voluminous folds, her benevolent face framed by a helmet-like coiffe surmounted by an asymmetrically arranged bun at the top. Provenance: Collection of Robert Rousset (1901-1982) and thence by descent to the present owner. Two collector's labels, '969' and '22', by repute originating from an old inventory of the Robert Rousset collection conducted before 1935. Robert Rousset was a former radio officer in the merchant navy. He is one of the most prominent French pioneers of the Chinese art market in Paris. As a child, his father, an insurance agent, would take him to Hôtel Drouot where he started to buy at a young age. His true passion for Asian art started in the 1920s, when he was sent on a mission to Beijing after the decline of the Qing empire, along with Osvald Siren, the famous Swedish Asian art historian and connoisseur. He then became one of the main contributors of Chinese antiques for the Compagnie de la Chine et des Indes, founded in Paris in the early 20th century by the Blazy brothers. After the 1929 stock market crash, he had the opportunity to acquire the company. With his sister Suzanne in charge of the porcelain, they developed the business and became one of the most important dealers in France, selling pieces to the greatest museums, including the Musee Guimet and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Condition: Some minor old repairs and touchups as generally expected from Tang dynasty excavations. Losses, fissures and encrustations. Overall very good condition. Remnants of pigment. French Export License: Certificat d'exportation pour un bien culturel Nr. 220481 dated 17 September 2020 has been granted, a copy of the document accompanies this lot. Weight: 1,193 g Dimensions: Height 36.5 cm Literature comparison: The figures of this type usually hold their hands in front of them, in order to provide a more graceful arrangement of their sleeves. Some have their hands completely hidden as can be seen in three of the figures from the Schloss Collection. See J. Baker, Seeking Immortality - Chinese Tomb Sculpture from the Schloss Collection, Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, Santa Ana, 1996, p. 34, no. 17. Others among these figures hold a pet animal or bird, as in the case of the figure with a small pug dog in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, illustrated by G. Hasebe and M. Sato, Sekai toji zenshu, 11 Tang, Tokyo, 1976, no. 29, or the figure gently cradling a songbird in her hand, Seeking Immortality, op. cit., p. 34, no. 17, second from the right. A very few of the figures hold a small child, as in the case of a mother and child group excavated from a tomb dated to AD 744 near Xi'an. See E. Schloss, Ancient Chinese Ceramic Sculpture from Han through Tang, vol. 1, Stamford, 1977, p. 42, fig. 7. Auction result comparison: Compare with a related but larger pottery figure of a lady at Christie's New York in Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 13 September 2019, lot 835, sold for USD 62,500. 唐代彩繪陶仕女俑中國，618-907年。侍女身體優雅地向一側微微傾斜，雙手藏在寬袖中，寬大的衣袖垂落下來。頭梳高髻，臉部圓潤，豐頰秀眉，雙眼微閉，紅唇輕抿微露笑意，神色莊重恭謹。身材豐腴，裙擺曳地露出尖頭履。 來源：Robert Rousset (1901-1982) 收藏，直至現任藏家。兩個藏家標簽 '969' and '22', 據説Robert Rousset 收藏1935年之前使用的目錄編號。Robert Rousset曾是商船的無線電通信官。 他是法國巴黎的中國藝術市場最傑出的先驅之一。他的父親是一名保險代理人，會帶他去 Hôtel Drouot拍賣行，孩提時代他就開始購買藝術品。 他對亞洲藝術的真正熱情始於 1920 年代，當時清朝沒落，他與瑞典著名亞洲藝術史學家和鑑賞家 Osvald Siren 一起被派往北京。 隨後，他成為二十世紀初由 Blazy 兄弟在巴黎創立的 Compagnie de la Chine et des Indes 旗下中國古董的主要合作者之一。1929 年股市崩盤後，他有機會收購了這家公司。在他負責瓷器的妹妹 Suzanne的帶領下，他們發展了這項業務，並成為法國最重要的經銷商之一，向最大的博物館，包括吉美博物館和大都會藝術博物館，出售古董。 品相：正如唐代考古發掘中普遍情況，一些小的舊修理和修補。缺損、裂縫和結殼。 總體來說品相非常良好。 色素殘留。 法國出口證書：Certificat d'exportation pour un bien culturel Nr. 220481，簽發日期2020年9月17日，隨附文件附件。 重量：1,193 克 尺寸：高36.5 厘米 拍賣結果比較：一更大的仕女俑于紐約佳士得Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art 2019年9月13日 lot 835, 售價USD 62,500.