ShareThisBy HELAINE FENDELMAN and JOE ROSSON
DEAR HELAINE AND JOE: I hope you can tell me something about this horse. It is approximately 31 inches tall and 36 inches long. The antiques dealer who sold it to me said it was found covered with dirt in a barn in France. Any information would be appreciated. Thank you. _ C. C., Aspermont, Texas
DEAR C. C.: It can be a hard lesson to learn, but not every item found in an antiques store is antique. And even though this horse may have been found in a barn in France, it has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with France and is in no way related to French decorative arts.
To discover the origins of the antecedents of this horse, we have to travel far back in time to the Chinese T'ang Dynasty, which lasted from 618 to 906 A.D. This was a time of great development in the art of ceramics in China, and the T'ang potters greatly improved the glazes on the wares they made.
All of the T'ang pieces that have come down to us are grave goods or pieces that have been excavated from tombs. Most of these mortuary pieces are vessels, but the there are figures of camels, human beings, spirit guardians, buildings and most familiar of all _ horses. These pieces can be found unglazed or decorated with polychrome lead glazes that can be very attractive and are highly sought after by collectors.
In T'ang China, tombs were envisioned as dwelling places for the spirits of the deceased and they often were outfitted with models that represented the luxuries and necessities of life. Prominent among these models were the figures of servants, dancers, musicians and other personages that the spirit might find useful or engaging.
The spirit guardians were often images of "Fang-hsiang," who is shown as a quasi-human figure holding a spear or sword in his upraised fist while his foot is stomping on the head of a dwarf or some evil-looking beast. These fearsome representations were typically placed at the entrance to the tomb and in the four corners to ward off evil spirits.
On the other hand, the horses found in T'ang tombs were beloved companions that did not represent the beast of burden, but the fiery war horse and spirited mount that was beloved by the dearly departed.
Examples that exhibit a great deal of spirit and "personality" and have good glazes are highly prized and can fetch huge prices when they come up for sale on the international market.
T'ang horses have been widely reproduced and copies outnumber originals by a factor of many, many thousands to one. A quick perusal of the Internet will reveal large numbers of "T'ang-style" horses for sale that are made from a variety of materials that run the gamut from bronze and wood to stone and plaster.
There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that the piece belonging to C. C. is a modern reproduction of a T'ang horse. It was made for purely decorative purposes and its gold, turquoise and red color scheme is not the least bit reminiscent of the hues found on pieces from the original time frame.
This is an unusually large piece for a modern reproduction, but we did find a piece of about this size that was made from resin and priced at a little more than $300. We doubt that this piece is more than 35 years old, and may even be younger. Its decorative value does not exceed the $300 quoted above and is probably less.
(Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of the "Price It Yourself" (HarperResource, $19.95). Questions can be mailed to them at P.O. Box 12208, Knoxville, TN 37912-0208.)
