This outstanding ceramic attendant was
made
during what many consider to be China’s
Golden
Age, the T’ang Dynasty. It was at this
point that
China’s outstanding technological and
aesthetic
achievements opened to external
influences,
resulting in the introduction of
numerous new
forms of self-expression, coupled with
internal
innovation and considerable social
freedom. The
T’ang dynasty also saw the birth of the
printed
novel, significant musical and
theatrical heritage
and many of China’s best-known painters
and
artists.
The T’ang Dynasty took control in 618
AD, when
the Li family seized power from the last
crumbling remnants of the preceding Sui
Dynasty. This political and regal regime
was
long-lived, and lasted for almost 300
years. The
imperial aspirations of the preceding
periods and
early T’ang leaders led to unprecedented
wealth,
resulting in considerable socioeconomic
stability,
the development of trade networks and
vast
urbanisation for China’s exploding
population
(estimated at around 50 million people
in the 8th
century AD). The T’ang rulers took cues
from
earlier periods, maintaining many of
their
administrative structures and systems
intact.
Even when dynastic and governmental
institutions withdrew from management of
the
empire towards the end of the period –
their
authority undermined by localised
rebellions and
regional governors known as jiedushi –
the
systems were so well-established that
they
continued to operate regardless.
The artworks created during this era are
among
China’s greatest cultural achievements.
It was
the
greatest age for Chinese poetry and
painting,
and sculpture also developed (although
there
was a notable decline in Buddhist
sculptures
following repression of the faith by
pro-Taoism
administrations later in the regime).
During the Tang Dynasty, restrictions
were
placed on the number of objects that
could be
included in tombs, an amount determined
by an
individual's social rank. In spite of
the
limitations, a striking variety of tomb
furnishings
– known as mingqi – have been excavated.
Entire
retinues of ceramic figures –
representing
warriors, animals, entertainers,
musicians,
guardians and every other necessary
category of
assistant – were buried with the dead in
order to
provide for the afterlife. Warriors
(lokapala) were
put in place to defend the dead, while
horses/
camels were provided for transport, and
officials
to run his estate in the hereafter. Of
all the
various types of mingqi, however, there
are none
more elegant or charming than the
sculptures of
sophisticated female courtiers, known –
rather
unfairly – as “fat ladies”. These
wonderfully
expressionistic sculptures represent the
idealized beauty of T’ang Dynasty China,
while
also demonstrating sculptural mastery in
exaggerating characteristics for effect,
and for
sheer elegance of execution.
The current sculpture is a perfect
example of the
genre. She stands, draped from neck to
foot in a
loose-fitting white dress and jacket
(?), leaning
her weight back slightly on one foot,
while
bringing the forefingers on her tiny
hands
together as if in awkward enquiry. The
dress is
rendered simply yet effectively, with
creases
incised around the hem and the waist,
and a
low-cut sash below the hips, and large,
loose
sleeves. Her skin tone is pale – a
traditional
measure of social elites, who did not
expose
themselves to the sun's rays – which
contrasts
strongly with her red lips, dark
eyebrows and
small, enquiring eyes and retrousse
nose. She is
undoubtedly well-nourished, another
marker of
social class, and her rounded jawline
and cheeks
run smoothly with the loose contours of
her
body. Her hair is gathered up into an
ornate fan-
like design with a tie, the bun
carefully folded
and manoeuvred into four distinct
lozenges; this
style, which is associated with
aristocratic and
court circles, is known from written,
sculptural
and painted sources. This piece offers a
narrative
of courtly life over a thousand years
ago, in
superbly delicate and carefully-rendered
detail.
This is a stunning piece of ancient art
and a
credit to any collection of Chinese
masterpieces.
