Magnificent Shapes and Colours of Chinese pottery
5 min readArtworks usually reflect the craftsmanship and aesthetic taste of their time, whereas Tang tri-colour pottery manifests the strength and self-confidence of the high-Tang era, mainly through its shapes and colours.
Due to the unpractical function of tri-colour products, they were mainly presented in shapes of humans, animals and indoor displays, while the former two categories are the most characteristic. Ladies of palaces was the most typical human image portrayed by tri-colour wares, which reflected the palace life of Tang. On theother hand, horse and camel were the most frequent animal images, which might result from the leading economic form of the time, as horses were the main vehicle for riding and transportation in Tang, while camels were indispensable for travel alongthe Silk Road. The plump and robust style of ladies, horses and camels was accordant with the aesthetic taste of the time, as also presented in painting works by the famous Tang figure artist Wu Daozi and in murals in high-level tombs around Xi’ an and Luoyang.
Among all the Tang tri-colour animal figurines, the shaping of horse is the most spectacular. Chinese people traditionally see horse as the symbol of strength and success, and in the Tang dynasty this was no exception. Tri-colour horses of Tang boast muscularity, rich and well balanced colours, as well as diversified gestures, which reflect the majesty of Tang in a special way. Let’s look at the lively horses excavated from tomb of princess Yongtai in Qian county of Shaanxi for instance, which are about 30 centimeter tall in shapely scales. One of them looks peaceful and quiet which seems to be drinking to its heart’s content, while another is dynamically neighing with its head perking. Tang people were real horse-lovers. They not only raised horse breeds, but would even depict their beloved horses in tombs aswe11, as represented by the relief of the six steeds in Emperor Taizong’s mausoleum.
On the other hand, due to the flourish of communication between China and the west world during the Tang dynasty, camel was also a main motif of tri-colour animal figurines. The most precious masterpiece work of camel is the camel figurine carrying musicians found in Xi’ an, Shaanxi province.A robust camel stands on apottery plaque, carrying six musicians and one dancer on its back, all in vivid expression and gestures.
Lady figurines are the most typical category of Tang tri-colour human figurines.
Due to the unprecedented rise of women’s status in the open society of the Tang dynasty, they became a popular motif for art creation of the time. Though different in identities and gestures, such as standing, sitting or ridding on horses, tri-colour lady figurines of Tang boast the same magnificence and elegance. Standing andsitting lady figurines are generally skillfully depicted in high buns, delicate eyes and mouths and plump statures, with their chest and back exposed. Besides vivid portrait of their appearances, artisans also made their best effort to present their inward feelings. Therefore, such a lady figurine indeed seems to be a real tender and noble lady, rather than a cool steady figurine.
Women Figurines riding on horses were also quite common in the Tang dynasty, which reflect the prosperity and openness of the society then. Women on horses are usually dressed in western-style dresses with a confident and bold manner, and they provide with valuable information about female dressing of the time. The interchange and integration of customs and cultures of different ethnic groups propelled by some three-centuries of turmoil before the unification of China by Tang, laid a solid foundation for the unprece dented prosperity of Tang culture, including the transformation of dressing styles. Female dresses were designed on the basis ofChinese traditions, but enriched with elements from the west, especially collars styles which perfectly matched with their beautiful skirts, and rendered more charm and elegance to women. Such beauty is thoroughly presented through luster of tri-colour glazes, as well as the open-mindedness and grace of Tang women.
Figurines of strapping and stately celestial kings and warriors were also commonburial objects in tombs of the high Tang era. Together with ferocious tomb beasts with a human head and beast body, they constituted powerful guardians of the underground world against possible devils. Celestial kings were originally guardians in Buddhism, and in tombs before the Tang dynasty, most tomb guardians were warriorsand no images of celestial king had been found yet. Therefore, they appeared in Tang tombs with the spread of Buddhism. Statues of celestial kings were usually portrayed in the standing form with a robust body dressed in armors. They stare their eyes widely, and tread on monsters, all to demonstrate their strength and resolution tosafeguard the peace of tomb owners. The image of tomb guardian-creatures appeared much earlier in tombs than celestial kings.
According to historical documents, there was a monster in ancient China who lived on human brains, but could be driven off by another creature called Fangxiangshi. Therefore, people began to place figurines of Fangxiangshi,i.e. tomb guardian-creatures in tombs. The image of tomb guardian-creatures underwent constantchanges in different dynasties, and its form in the Tang dynasty was very distant to the original one. Tomb guardian-creatures of Tang boast diversified shapes, such as human head with body of a creature, and creature head with a creature body. They were usually portrayed standing or squatting, with horns above their heads, wings ol their shoulders, their mouths widely open and eyes staring in a ferocious manner.
The tri-colour figurines of the two ferocius gigantic guardians of Heng and Ha were also applied to safeguard tombs, who were two Buddhist gods of gates with lively facial expressions. These figurines usually bear appropriate sizes, with larger ones well over one-meter, and almost reached the height of human beings.
Besides common figurines introduced above, there were also tri-colour figurines of foreigners and hunters, as well as various furniture and utensils, which reflect the ad vanced material culture of the Tang dynasty, and provide us with valuable information to understand the social life of Tang.
Besides its shapes, the value of Tang tri-colour pottery also lies in its diversified glazes. Through repetitive experiments, Tang artisans successfully created glazes of red, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, etc. with mixture of quartz, ceruse and various metal-oxides as tones. Meanwhile, they adjusted the proportion of colours according the need of different products, so that they wouldwell melt under high firing temperature to present a splendid and mottled effect, which perfectly integrate with the lively shapes to manifest the openness and confidence of Tang society.
