TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)

For a discussion on the depiction of women on horseback, see Virginia Bower, 'Two Masterworks of Tang Ceramic Sculpture', Orientations, June, 1993, pp. 75-77, where various examples in both painted pottery and sancai glaze are illustrated. The author notes that figures of women on horseback became common during the sixth century, and were increasingly numerous in tombs during the Sui and Tang periods, as more women took up riding. By the late 720s and 730s, however, figures of riders of either sex were declining, although literary evidence suggests that riding remained a common activity for both men and women.