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Mounted hunter
Tang dynasty (618–907)
Glazed earthenware
H. 14 3/8 in. (36.5 cm)
Excavated from the tomb (dated 706) of Prince Yide, Qianxian, Shaanxi Province, 1972
Shaanxi History Museum
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This mounted hunter is a superb example of marbling, an uncommon technique in which two clays of different colors were roughly mixed to create an effect similar to that found on western glass vessels. Here, the marbling on the smooth areas of the horse and the apparel of the rider resembles a swirling wood-grain pattern. Raised areas, such as the horse's luxuriant mane and the rider's trousers and shoes, are also marbled. Both the horse and the figure, with the exception of the hunter's face and hands, are fired with brown glaze. Images of mounted hunters shooting arrows upward began to appear in funerary sculptures and paintings during the Tang dynasty.
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