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

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.