TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)

These imposing figures are noteworthy for their fine modeling and masterful application of the glazes. As with other figures of this type, they are modeled with fierce, scowling expressions and a threatening stance, and they carry on the tradition of the massive stone guardian figures (lishi) that were positioned at the entrances to cave-shrines during the early Tang dynasty. The glazed pottery figures of the mid-8th century had now evolved into military guardians and were dressed in elaborate armor like the present pair.

For another imposing figure of this type, also shown standing on a recumbent bull, but of even larger size (123 cm.), see The Tsui Museum of Art - Chinese Ceramics I: Neolithic to Liao, Hong Kong, 1993, no. 119. Another similar example with bird-crested helmet and shown standing on a bull, of slightly smaller size (90 cm.), is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and illustrated by M. Medley in T’ang Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1981, p. 62, no. 54.