Tang horse and rider

I bought this horse and rider on an auction site as a copy. It looked quite beaten up, and dirty. I took a gamble and bought it anyway.

It looked like this, bad repairs, some strange wax finish on it, and added dirt. The first thing I did was cleaning it with a soft soap, and then I took it apart. I soaked the repairs with thinner, and took cleaned them.

That was a good opportunity to check the horse out. The body was one solid piece, as could be seen from the inside. All parts were there, and were all original. They fitted nicely, and were made of the same coarse pinkish clay. It became apparent that it was a Tang dynasty piece.

So this is the final result after gluing, cleaning, filling and retouching. I went for a subtle restoration, with all respect for the original. So the repairs remain slightly visible. The retouching is done in watercolor. I used a simple white filler,self-hardening clay and a contact-glue. As tools, wooden toothpicks, kitchen towel, and a brush. Toothpicks are great for applying filler, and sanding it, and stabilizing the piece during glueing.

It is a great way to honour history, and to add a good piece to your collection on a small budget.