Unusual Tang Earthenware Figure of a Buddhist Court Attendant. Similar Works in the Taiwan National Museum. (618-907) Standing, draped in long heavy attire with vertical folds and ribbon-tied at the neck, wearing a headdress with flaps, her arms and hands appear to be folded before her chest, with an allover black pigment.

Size: 11 x 3 1/4 x 2 3/4 in.

#1951 #15

The Chinese Tang Dynasty ruled from 618 to 907, with an interregnum between 690 and 705 when Wu Zetian, the only recognized Imperial Empress in Chinese history, seized the throne. Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese civilization, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture with many artistic innovations. Their control of the lucrative trade-routes along the Silk Road as well as a massive protectorate system of surrounding kingdom states led to them exerting cultural influence over neighboring East Asian nations, particularly Japan and Korea. The development of woodblock printing and significant advancements in poetry, dance, calligraphy and sculpture had a permanent impact on future Chinese culture. In pottery, with glazed plain wares in celadon green and whitish porcelaneous types brought to a high level, exportation jumped to a massive scale. Chinese ceramics saw many significant developments, including the first porcelain meeting both Western and Chinese definitions, many of which were lead-glazed sancai (“three-color”) wares. Sancai was also used for vessels for burial, and perhaps for use; the glaze was less toxic than in the Han Dynasty, but still dangerous to use at the dining table. The Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution beginning in 842 reached its peak in 845, and had a tremendous negative impact on all the arts, which had flourished under earlier tolerance of new religions and foreign styles. This piece was likely made before this tumultuous time, when religious extremism began to erode the stability of the Dynasty and caused their cultural power to diminish.