Tang sancai horse
A tomb figure of a horse with a three-colour glaze that ran and mingled in the firing.
Figures like this were buried with the Tang nobility in the 8th century, as servants and animals for the afterlife. The horses also show how highly imported horses from Central Asia were prized. Examples are in the British Museum and the Shanghai Museum.
Materials: Earthenware with lead glaze in amber, green and cream
Manufacture: Moulded in parts and joined; the glazes left to run into each other in a low firing.
The glazes in brown, green and white that ran and mixed – sancai means three colours.
The unglazed base and the horse’s powerful, proud stance.