Ca. 618 to 906 AD. Tang Dynasty. Pair of terracotta female musician figures. One is playing a drum, the other one is playing the flute. Both are depicted in kneeling position, wearing long light coloured covering robes covering their legs and a red shawl around the shoulders. The hair is neatly combed into a coiffure consisting of a high topknot. The faces are covered with white pigment, on which thin, slightly arched eyebrows, narrow eyes and pointed nose have been outlined in black pigment, the small mouth has been painted in red pigment. The highest-rated musicians at the Tang court performed seated, while the lower ranks played standing and were also treated less well in other respects. The Tang dynasty was largely a period of progress and stability in the first half of the dynasty's rule, until the An Lushan Rebellion and the decline of central authority in the later half of the dynasty. Grave goods were an important status symbol in ancient China, so the affluent and important would be accompanied in their travels through the afterlife with numerous depictions of people, items and animals. Such terracotta figures were made for the service and entertainment of the owner, ensuring that their journey in the underworld was a happy one. Terracotta tomb attendants seemed to have first appeared during the Western Han Dynasty. However, it is during Tang China that the cultural tradition of displaying wealth in elite tombs reached its peak, with an increased production of terracotta statuettes. The Tang Dynasty was a thrilling time in Chinese history, when trade flourished along the Silk Routes and unified China was the richest country on earth. Chang'an (now Xi'an) was the Tang capital, and it was one of the most cosmopolitan cities on earth, filled with foreigners who had travelled to China to trade; the influence of foreigners and talented native Chinese, combined with the economic prosperity brought on by trade and the new religion from India, Buddhism, created a powerful cultural milieu where poetry and other forms of art flourished. Provenance: From the private collection of D. Ruskin, Oxfordshire; formerly in a British collection formed in the 1990s on the UK / International art markets. Size: L:Set of 2: 225mm / W:115mm ; 1.8kg