Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

The Barlow Collection

A select catalogue of the Barlow collection of Chinese Ceramics, Bronzes and Jades by the University of Sussex (published Sussex, 2006).

The Barlow Collection by the University of Sussex

Publications online: 456 objects

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Figure of a seated chimera

  • loan
  • Literature notes

    In its glaze colour and brick-red body, this figure differs from the typical material of Tang burial ware which for the most part was made by the Gongxian kilns at Huangye in Gongyi, Henan province. The figure of a camel carrying a young girl, also in the Barlow Collection, [LI1301.422], is of the same type.

    The feline animal is shown seated on a flat pedestal, the front legs with clearly rendered muscles, placed close to the hind paws, the tail bent up and curling down, the spine with three pointed hooks, the sides emitting flames in relief, the mouth open showing teeth, the nostrils pierced, eyes protruding, and the small pointed ears pricked. The figure is hollow and open underneath. The bright brick-red body is covered with an olive-brown glaze which varies from lighter to darker patches, and leaves eyes and eyebrows, the inside of the ears, muzzle, teeth, breast, flame motifs and hooks in the biscuit. The biscuit is covered with a white pigment, the eyes and eyebrows are picked out in brown and the breast has brown stripes.
  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia China (north) (place of creation)
    Date
    7th century AD (AD 601 - 700)
    Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 907)
    Material and technique
    earthenware, moulded and luted together, and with a green glaze
    Dimensions
    37.2 x 14 x 20.8 cm (height x width x depth)
    Material index
    Technique index
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Lent by the Sir Alan Barlow Collection Trust.
    Accession no.
    LI1301.402
  • Further reading

    University of Sussex, and Arts and Humanities Research Council, The Barlow Collection, supervised by Regina Krahl, Maurice Howard, and Aiden Leeves (Sussex: University of Sussex, 2006), no. S9

Glossary (3)

earthenware, glaze, luted

  • earthenware

    Ceramic material made of clay which is fired to a temperature of c.1000-1200⁰c. The resulting ceramic is non-vitreous and varies in colour from dark red to yellow.

  • glaze

    Vitreous coating applied to the surface of a ceramic to make it impermeable or for decorative effect.

  • luted

    The fusion of parts of ceramics using dilute clay slip.

Location

    • currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Publications online

  • The Barlow Collection by the University of Sussex

    The Barlow Collection

    In its glaze colour and brick-red body, this figure differs from the typical material of Tang burial ware which for the most part was made by the Gongxian kilns at Huangye in Gongyi, Henan province. The figure of a camel carrying a young girl, also in the Barlow Collection, [LI1301.422], is of the same type.

    The feline animal is shown seated on a flat pedestal, the front legs with clearly rendered muscles, placed close to the hind paws, the tail bent up and curling down, the spine with three pointed hooks, the sides emitting flames in relief, the mouth open showing teeth, the nostrils pierced, eyes protruding, and the small pointed ears pricked. The figure is hollow and open underneath. The bright brick-red body is covered with an olive-brown glaze which varies from lighter to darker patches, and leaves eyes and eyebrows, the inside of the ears, muzzle, teeth, breast, flame motifs and hooks in the biscuit. The biscuit is covered with a white pigment, the eyes and eyebrows are picked out in brown and the breast has brown stripes.
Notice

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