A Sui Straw Glazed Pottery Figure of a Standing Lady
A Sui Pottery Figure of a Courtly Lady, North China, 581 – 618. This elegant Mingqi pottery figure wears a tied top over her clothes and holds an offering jar tightly in her hands. Her hair is up, and is formal in style, it is tight, apparently supported by combs. The moulding is shallow, and the straw-coloured glaze is thick and finely crazed. The rough unglazed interior of this figure exhibits extensive construction marks including luting-lines with excessive slip. To read more about Mingqi pottery look below the photograph gallery.
SOLD
- Condition
- In very good condition, some marks where the figure was removed from its kiln support.
- Size
- Height 25.5 cm (10 inches)
- Provenance
- N/A
- Stock number
- 25973
Photos
Information
Mingqi Pottery :
This piece is an example of Mingqi, objects made specifically for burial, to be taken with you to the afterlife. The `Terracotta Army` is the most famous example of this type of burial object. Mingqi objects represented people, houses, farms, granaries, livestock and indeed anything important from this world that would give you comfort and status in the next. The `Terracotta Army` were made life size and on a vast scale, reflecting the importance of the first emperor of China but most Mingqi objects were small models, far smaller than the object or indeed person they were meant to represent. Mingqi ceramics were not the only goods to appear in early Chinese tombs, objects that functioned were also buried, some of these had clearly been worn or even damaged, presumably these objects were prized possessions belonging to the deceased that might have been used on a daily basis.