T'ang Pottery for the British Museum

Abstract

A REMARKABLE example of T'ang pottery, well known to collectors and students, from the collection of the late Mr. George Eumorfopoulos, has been given to the British Museum by his widow to mark his long and close friendship for that institution, of which he was a generous benefactor. The gift is a pottery model of a saddled horse. It stands just under a foot high, and is an outstanding example of the technical skill and artistic feeling of the Chinese under the T'ang dynasty. This period (A.D. 618–905) was one of the most remarkable in the history of the Chinese Empire. A consolidation and expansion of the imperial power after a time of stress, combined with a revival in the spirit of Buddhism, inspired from its sources in India by the pilgrimages of Chinese priests, to give birth to a remarkable achievement in all forms of the plastic arts, but more notably as exemplified in pottery figures from tomb burials and in the paintings such as those collected in large numbers by Sir Aurel Stein and those who, after him, visited the Buddhist cave shrines of Tun-Huang. The piece of pottery which has now been given to the British Museum was for long highly prized by its former owner and was his favourite specimen. It is known as the ‘Blue Horse’ on account of the extensive splashing of blue on its glaze, which makes it unique among figures from the tomb burials which are the main source of our knowledge of this type of art in the period.