59.5 cm.（23 3⁄8 in.）high

Provenance：
Acquired in Hong Kong in the 1980s

Each shown standing on top of a recumbent bull，with one arm raised，the other resting on the hip，their elaborate armour picked out in blue，cream and brown beneath heads left unglazed，their fierce faces surmounted by phoenixform headdresses.
Sancai figures of Tianwang，Heavenly Kings，are well known but the present pair is exceptionally unusual in the liberal use of cobalt blue. Cobalt blue was used sparingly during the Tang dynasty，usually on smaller vessels as it had to be imported and as a result，was a great deal more expensive. The dating of this lot is consistent with the result of a thermoluminescence test，Oxford Authentication Ltd.，sample no. C117f55/ C117f56

Price estimate:
無底價
To be sold without reserve

Auction Result:
HKD: 64,900