Tang Dynasty, Circa 618 -906 AD A beautifully hollow-moulded musician figurine, featuring distinctive characteristics of an imperial court attendant of the Tang Dynasty. The figure is gracefully modelled standing on a low trapezoidal base, his hands joined above his waist in pose of holding, wearing a long and voluminous robe enriched in red and green pigment, secured by a loose belt over wide trousers. He has round face with well-articulated features out in black and red pigments, the hair gathered in a double bun topknot secured with a black kerchief. Pottery figures of attendants such as this example complemented a large array of accessories manufactured for internment in burials belong to high-ranking members of the Tang society. Images In China were believed to ‘become alive’, in other words to function just like their physical counterpart, so they could perpetuate their benign effects to the views. See J.Rawson,'The power of images: the model universe of the First Emperor and its legacy', in Historical Research, no.75, 2002, pp.123-154. See also ibid., 'Changes in the representation of life and the afterlife as illustrated by the content of tombs of the T'ang and Song period', Arts of the Sung and Yuan, New York, 1996, pp.23-43. This piece has been precisely dated by means of a Thermo Luminescence analysis carried out by Oxford Authentication. The samples collected date the piece to the period reflected in its style, whilst also showing no modern trace elements. The TL certificate will accompany this lot. Size: D: mm / US: 555 / UK: 190; 4.55kg. Provenance: UK private collection; formerly acquired in the early 1990s in Hong Kong.