A GROUP OF FOUR PAINTED POTTERY WARRIORS ON ARMORED HORSES


Northern Zhou dynasty, circa 570CEEach warrior wearing a helmet with a peaked edge along the forehead and a plated corselet partially covered by a cloth coat, his stubby-legged mount protected either by coat of plated armor or a solid leather sheath painted to imitate a tiger skin, the surfaces showing remains of carmine, black and white pigments. 8in (20.3cm) height of tallest warrior
|ProvenanceTK Inc., Asian Antiquities, Williamsburg, Virginia, 23 January 2006The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. Thermoluminescence Analysis Report sample no. C205k80, dated 14 December 2005, on a single horse and rider lot is consistent with the dating of this lot.A warrior of similar proportions, wearing a similar helmet with a peaked edge across the forehead and seated on an armor-clad horse, was excavated in 1983 in Guyuan city, Ningsha, from the tomb of Li Xian and his wife, dated to Northern Zhou Tianhe fourth year (569) (17.6cm [6 7/8in] high). See Geng Baochang, Zhong guo wen wu jing hua da quan: Tao ci juan (Taibei, Taiwan shang wu yin shu guan gong si, 1993), p. 118, no. 415.