Pottery model of a recumbent camel

China, early Tang dynasty,
7th century AD

Length: 18 1/2 inches, 47 cm
Height: 10 1/2 inches, 26.5 cm
Width: 8 inches, 20 cm

From the 6th century AD and throughout the entire Tang dynasty (618 - 906 AD), the Bactrian two-humped camel, which originated in central Asia, frequently appears among the tomb figures of China. This had everything to do with the famous Silk Road, along which these “ships of the desert” carried wares from the Near East far into China. The camel, legendary for its resilience in extreme conditions, was the essential means of transportation for the merchants travelling along this trade route which was so vital to China’s economy. Although pottery models of heavily-laden camels are not uncommon and are sometimes found with removable packs, it is extremely rare, possibly unique, to find an example that has a pack which is assembled from four separate pieces. No other examples appear to have been recorded, but similar camels with ‘one piece’ packs are in the Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City[1] and formerly in the Mount Trust Collection of Chinese Art, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum[2]. A similarly modelled camel with a rider instead of a pack, is in the Shaanxi Provincial Museum[3].

The dating of this piece is consistent with the findings of Oxford thermoluminescence analysis report no. C100q96