Mounted Camel, China, Tang Period (618-907)

Camel in light brown glazed terracotta. On the oval saddle coat, reserved in biscuit, decorations in black polychromy. China, Tang era (618-907).

This type of representation of a Bactrian camel denotes important foreign influences during the Tang era thanks to the Silk Road, which resulted in a keen interest in foreignreligions at the Court and among the elite, but also for foreignphilosophies, music, and all the arts from the West or the East.

With the long caravans, the Chinese discovered these astonishing animals led by "barbarians". They did not mount them themselves, although some bred them and hired the services of western grooms, an essential element in transport to the cities of Lanzhou, Chang’an and Luoyang. Carrying all kinds of exotic products, the camel was a living symbol of prosperity.

Cf: On camels and dromedaries in China and their ceramic representations, which are among the most prestigious minqi of the Tang era, see: Ezekiel Schloss, Ancient Chinese Ceramic Sculpture, Stanford 1977, vol II, p. 230