314 Chinese Clay Figures 



same form as the one in use at present, is glazed a plant green ; the double 

 saddle-cloth underneath it, dark brown intermingled with green. The 

 seat of the saddle is padded with a material arranged in graceful drapery. 

 The mane is brown ; the ornamental metal pieces attached to the head- 

 stall, the breastband, and crupper are glazed green. The design which 

 is brought out on these is characteristic of the T'ang period, and found 

 also as relief decoration on coeval pottery vases. 1 



The horses on which human figures are mounted occupy a special 

 place. Their significance in relation to the dead may be ascertained 

 from their position in the grave: they were found either as preceding 

 or as following the coffin. This seems to allude to the fact that they 

 were regarded as the mounted escorts of the occupant of the grave, in 

 the same manner as the living one, when on an official visit riding in a 

 cart or in a sedan-chair, is accompanied by outriders in front and in the 

 rear. As only persons of rank were granted this privilege, it seems 

 certain that the same rule was observed in the grave, and that the clay 

 statuettes of cavaliers appertain to dignitaries. 



From Shen-si only figures of male riders are known to me (Plates 

 LXVIII-LXX). The Shen-si horses are of somewhat stronger build, 

 taller, and with more developed chests, than the Ho-nan breed. In the 

 former, the curly hair on the forehead is parted and combed toward the 

 sides, while in the latter it hangs straight downward. The men wear 

 a pompon in the front of their round caps, and are strangely clad in long 

 gowns. The cavalier on Plate LXVIII makes a poor figure as a horse- 

 man, and shows that the Chinese of the T'ang period had as poor a 

 knowledge of the art of riding as at present. The women of Ho-nan 

 are better seated in the saddle than the men of Shen-si. The rider in 

 question has his left foot pushed forward and his right foot backward; 

 his hands come too near to the horse's neck, and seem to be in motion. 



1 An illustration of such a vase will be found in Part II. Chinese horse-trappings 

 of the T'ang period may be viewed in TOyei Shuko, Vol. Ill, Plates 196, 197. In 

 none of the clay figures which have come to my notice is the saddle-girth represented. 

 Judging from the clay figures, saddlery must have been almost the same in the 

 T'ang period as at present. The frame of the modern saddle is carved from wood, 

 frequently covered with shagreen and edged with metal- work, usually iron incrusted 

 with silver wire forming geometric or floral designs. The seat is padded with a blue 

 or red satin or velvet cover. There are, as a rule, two saddle-cloths, the lower one of 

 wadded cotton cloth, the upper either of leather, ornamented with designs in color 

 or applique" patterns, or of wool or silk carpeting. A single bridle of cotton webbing 

 is used. Headpiece, breastband, and crupper are usually decorated with brass 

 work, or sometimes with silver gilt. A neckcollar fitted with small brass bells is occa- 

 sionally added. Two tassels of red-dyed horse-hair are suspended, the one from the 

 breastband, the other from the band under the chin. The stirrups are large and 

 heavy with solid bases ellipsoid in shape, usually of iron damaskeened with silver, 

 more rarely of brass. In Kan-su and north-eastern Tibet, wooden stirrups were 

 also observed and collected by the writer; these are made as substitutes only when iron 

 is lacking. Compare also Plate XXII. 



