POTTERY FIGURE OF A BOY HOLDING RABBIT SONG DYNASTY 宋 紅陶童子抱兔俑 naturalistically moulded in a seated posture on a hexagonal base, the boy holding a rabbit between his legs and right arm, and a lobbed ball in his left hand, wearing a cape with pointed drapery on his chest, his smiling eyes, mouth and dimples naturalistically incised in a playful manner, the pottery of reddish terracotta colour (12.5cm high) Qty: (1) Provenance: Private Taiwanese collection Note: This is a rare example of secular figural sculpture from the Song dynasty, made at a moment when Song sculpture reached the pinnacle of naturalism. Song historical texts and archaeological discoveries indicate that this type of pottery doll (ni hai er), elaborately dressed with real clothes and jewellery, was made for the Qixi Festival (the seventh day of the seventh lunar month) and kept in people’s homes to express the wish for many male children. A larger seated pottery boy, dated to the Song dynasty 12th century, is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number: SL.27.2018.1.1. Some more comparable examples, either holding a fish or ball, are in the collection of the Shaanxi History Museum.