Pottery Horse Sculpture, 'Stepping Horse'

This Tang Tri-color style horse statue features a powerful horse rasing one foot. Horse is one of the most common subjects of Tang Tri-color pottery artworks. This yellow glazed horse uprights his ears; a mane of white hair flicking in the air; raises one front leg as if he is showing his respect to the master. The green blanket under the saddle flaps in the wind.

Tang Tri-color ware was produced at the height of the Tang Dynastys strength and prosperity; the court was pure and bright, society stable, the economy flourishing.

Tang Tri-color ware is broadly divided into two categories: ornaments and utensils of daily use. The items especially designed as funerary ornaments, include funerary honor guards of civil and military officials, animal headstones, statues of the Emperor of Heaven, models, male, female and animal attendants, most of which were unearthed from Tang Dynasty tombs. The items are fired uncolored at temperatures between 1,000 and 1,100C before being glazed, then placed in a kiln to be fired for a second time, at between 800 and 900C. Because the temperature of the post-glazing firing was lower than that of the pre-glazing firing, almost no changes in shape and the multi-coloring occurred during the post-glazing firing. The colors of each of the glazes mixed and blended with one another, creating that luscious, extravagant phenomenon that is the distinct decorative flavor of the exceptionally splendid Tang Tri-color pottery.