296 Chinese Clay Figures 



soft lead glazes in four colors, — green, blue, brown, and yellowish 

 white; the demon is glazed yellowish white with brown hair. The 

 plastron of the knight's armor is blue, the circular portions are white, 

 the knobs in the centre are blue. 1 



Besides the god in the garb of a knight trampling down a demon, 

 we meet again a similar type of knight standing on the back of a reclin- 

 ing bull (Plate L). 2 The positions of feet and hands are quite stereo- 

 typed. The right foot is set on the head of the bull, the left on its 

 croup; the left arm is akimbo, and the right hand is raised as if throw- 

 ing a weapon (Plates LI and LIII, Fig. 1). Or, the left foot rests on 

 the bull's head, the right on its croup, while the left arm is akimbo, 

 and the right hand raised for attack (Plates LIII, Fig. 2, and LIV). 

 It will be noticed how the conventionalization of this type gradually 

 advances. Somewhat more artistic features adhere to the statuette on 

 Plate LII, which, with the exception of the head, is glazed in three 

 colors, — green, brown, and yellowish white; the bull is lost, and may 

 be supplemented from the preceding figure in Plate LI. 3 The bull, as 

 previously pointed out, alternates with the demon (Plate LIII, Fig. 2). 

 In Plate LIV, Fig. 2, a human body is plainly fashioned; so that in 

 this case we have the same motive as in the Lamaist images, in which 

 a human corpse serves as basis for certain Tantrik deities. 



The flat miniature figure on Plate LV is very curious, in that it is 

 cast from lead; it shows Yama in the same pose as the preceding ones, 

 and standing on a bull. Finally we see the ultimate stage of develop- 



1 The method of glazing in the T'ang figures is very interesting: the idea under- 

 lying the application of glazes, if more than one glaze is enlisted, seems to centre 

 upon the tendency of reproducing the colors of costume or armor. In the majority 

 of cases, probably in all human figures, it is only the costume which receives the col- 

 ored glaze, while head and hands remain uncoated. In the figurines of women it is 

 sometimes merely the central portion which is glazed, the dresses usually being of 

 green and brownish-yellow tinges, while the remaining portion is covered with a 

 white plaster. In the case of monochromes, the glazing as a rule extends to the 

 whole figure. 



2 A curious analogy to this type is offered in European mediaeval art by the 

 brasses of English lords in full armor standing on the back of a lion or another 

 animal, and by the monument of Count Otto IV of Henneberg, and other German 

 statues (for illustrations see, for example, Bashford Dean, Catalogue of European 

 Arms and Armor, Figs. 17-22; or Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. I, p. 587). 



3 A type similar to this one is figured on Plate XIV of the Catalogue of Early 

 Chinese Pottery, published by the Burlington Fine Arts Club (London, 191 1), except 

 that in this figure both feet are straight on the same plane. The modelling of the 

 head, the position of the left arm, the armor, and the style and colors of the glazing, 

 are identical in both figures. The pose of the right arm, however, must have been 

 different in our figure, in accordance with the drawn-up right foot; it doubtless has 

 to be_ supplemented correspondingly with the left arm in the figure on Plate XLIX; 

 that is, the arm was raised, and the hand either formed into a clenched fist, or the 

 palm stretched outward. Also in the specimen referred to, which is in the possession 

 of Mr. G. Eumorfopoulos of London, the face and hands are unglazed, while the re- 

 mainder is glazed in cream, orange-yellow, and green colors. 



