A RARE POTTERY FIGURE OF A FULLY ARMORED CHINESE CATAPHRACT, SIX DYNASTIES PERIOD

Expert’s note
: Comprehensive armor for horses made of metal might have been used in China as early as the Three Kingdoms period, but the usage wasn't widely adapted as most cavalry formation requires maneuverability. It was not until the early 4th century, however, that cataphracts came into widespread use among the Xianbei tribes of Inner Mongolia and Liaoning, which led to the readoption of cataphracts en masse by Chinese armies during the Jin dynasty (266-420) and Northern and Southern Dynasties era.

China, 3rd-7th century. The horse standing foursquare on a rectangular base, the head clothed in an embroidered covering flowing down the back of the neck with depictions of birds and rings, the body almost entirely covered in plated armor with similar figures of birds and seven-ring clusters. With ears pricked, the horse is saddled and standing at attention.


Provenance:
From the collection of Captain Walter Herbert Adgey-Edgar. Sotheby’s London, 13 May 1969, lot 58. A private collection based in the United Kingdom and the United States, acquired from the above, and thence by descent. A copy of the original invoice from Sotheby’s, dated 15 May 1969,
signed by Graham D. Llewellyn, the later chief executive,
dating the horse to the Six Dynasties period, and stating a purchase price for the present lot of GBP 1,200 or approx.
EUR 30,000
(converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies this lot. Walter Herbert Adgey-Edgar (1887-1977) was a well-known philatelist and writer on China and studied both Japanese and Chinese Stamps. In 1947, he self-published a book entitled ‘A Catalogue of Imperial Japanese Overprints and Issues in Occupied British Territories’. He also wrote for stamp journals using the by-line ‘London Chat’. In 1955 he wrote a paper that was widely published by the philatelic press entitled ‘The Postal and Airmail Routes of Manchuria’.

Condition:
Condition commensurate with age. Extensive wear, losses, firing flaws, chips, old repairs and fills, calcification, and encrustations, all exactly as expected from an authentic earthenware statue dating to the Six Dynasties period.

Weight: 1,280 g
Dimensions: Length 24.5 cm


六朝陶馬俑



中國，西元三至七世紀。馬俑四腿直立立於長方形底座上，頭部覆蓋繡花頭罩，從頸後垂下，可見鳥紋和環紋；身體覆蓋著身甲，上面有相近的鳥紋和七環圖案。馬豎起耳朵，身材矯健。


專家注釋：
早在三國時期，中國就已經開始使用金屬製成的馬甲，但由於大多數騎兵隊形需要靈活性，所以這種馬甲並沒有被廣泛採用。 直到四世紀初，鐵甲騎兵在內蒙古和遼寧的鮮卑部落中才得到大量使用，宋金戰爭中大規模使用鐵甲騎兵，至南朝時代。


來源：
Walter Herbert Adgey-Edgar收藏；倫敦蘇富比，1969年5月13日，lot 58；英美兩地生活的一位私人藏家，購於上述拍賣。隨附一份1969年5月15日蘇富比出具的發票複印本，
Graham D. Llewellyn簽名
，他後來成爲首席執行官，發票上可見對這馬來自六朝時期，當時售價 GBP 1,200 或相當於
EUR 30,000
(根據通貨膨脹率)。Walter Herbert Adgey-Edgar (1887-1977) 是著名的集郵家和中國問題作家，研究過日本和中國的郵票。1947年，他自行出版了一本名為《A Catalogue of Imperial Japanese Overprints 和Issues in Occupied British Territories》的書。 他還使用署名“London Chat”為郵票期刊撰稿。1955 年，他寫了一篇題為“The Postal 和Airmail Routes of Manchuria”的論文，被集郵出版社廣泛發表。

品相：
大面積磨損、缺損、燒製缺陷、缺口、小修、鈣化和結殼。

重量：1,280 克
尺寸：長24.5 釐米