Lot 222A

Chinese Tang Dynasty Grayware Musician Figure - Kneeling Wind Player

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Lot 222
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Chinese Tang Dynasty Grayware Musician Figure - Kneeling Wind Player
Chinese Tang Dynasty Grayware Musician Figure - Kneeling Wind Player
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Chinese Tang Dynasty Grayware Musician Figure - Kneeling Wind Player

Estimate: $400 - $600

Starting Bid: $200

(0 Bids)
by Artemis Fine Arts
June 25, 2026 9:00 AM MDT (In Progress)
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

East Asia, China, Tang Dynasty, ca. 618–907 CE. A kneeling musician rendered in unglazed gray earthenware, caught mid-performance with both hands raised to the lips and a wind instrument, perhaps a flute or panpipe, pressed to the mouth. The modeling is economical yet assured: a topknot or bound coiffure crowns a softly rounded face, the eyes lowered in concentration, while the robe falls in incised pleats that fan across the splayed base. Traces of slip and earthen encrustation cling to the surface, lending the gray clay a weathered patina. Such figures belonged to the mingqi tradition, ceramic surrogates buried with the dead to furnish the tomb with the pleasures of the living. A musician ensured that courtly entertainment would accompany the deceased into the afterlife, a small clay performer playing on for eternity. Size: 2.1" W x 4.3" H x 2.8" D (5.3 cm W x 10.9 cm H x 7.1 cm D).

Tomb figures of musicians and dancers proliferated under the Tang, when an outward-looking court absorbed melodies and instruments along the Silk Road from Central Asia, Persia, and beyond. Ensembles of such mingqi, sometimes whole orchestras, were arrayed in elite burials to recreate the banquets and performances of aristocratic life. Their survival offers a rare window onto the soundscape of medieval China, preserving in clay the postures of players whose music is otherwise lost.

Provenance: private Colorado, USA collection

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Item # 202960

  • Condition: Very Good. Some nicks, small chips, and abrasions as shown, all commensurate with age. Otherwise, intact and very nice with good remaining detail and scattered earthen deposits.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000