Tricolor Pottery Figurine of a Hunter on Horseback

The horse stands alert with its head slightly forward in a ready pose. The hunter has a large nose, deep-set eyes, a beard, and a mustache and wears a black head-wrap, a narrow-sleeved robe, and black leather boots. Holding the reins in his hands, he rides his horse and fixes his gaze forward. He is accompanied by his dog. During the Song dynasty (960–1279), Su Shi (1037–1101) wrote a poem to the tune “River Town” (Jiang chengzi) in which he describes the vigor of a youth hunting atop his horse while accompanied by his blonde-coated dog and commanding his hunting falcon. The people of the Tang dynasty (618–907) depicted the hunting customs of northern peoples in these lifelike pottery figurines. Interestingly, the hound atop the horse appears to be a type of canine presented as tribute by vassals from Central Asia to the imperial court and represents the prevalence of exchange between the Tang imperial establishment and the rulers of distant lands.