Posted on 09/27/2022 3:48:19 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
An art museum collaborates with expert chemists to investigate a Tang dynasty dancing horse.
In order to solve a 1,300-year-old mystery, the Cincinnati Art Museum requested help from a University of Cincinnati scientist.
The Chinese dancing horse sculpture at the museum is so lifelike that it seems to be ready to gallop off its pedestal. However, H ou-mei Sung, an expert in East Asian art, questioned the authenticity of a decorative tassel on the terracotta horse’s forehead that resembled the horn of a mythical unicorn.
Pietro Strobbia, an assistant professor of chemistry at the UC College of Arts and Sciences, was contacted by the museum to help establish if the tassel belonged to the original piece...
Strobbia and his collaborators recently published their findings in the journal Heritage Science.
Sung has seen numerous instances of ancient sculptures honoring the dancing horses that entertained rulers as far back as 202 B.C. But according to her, no others have forehead tassels. Could it have been added at a later time? ...
The dancing horse was donated by a collector to the Cincinnati museum in 1997 and originates from the Tang dynasty, when such sculptures were commissioned specifically for the aim of entombing royalty with them after their deaths, according to Sung.
Dancing horses were trained to move in time with a drumbeat. Sung said Emperor Xuanzong from the eighth century loved horses so much that he had a stable of more than 40,000. For one birthday celebration, he invited a troupe of 400 dancing horses to perform the "Song of the Upturned Cup."
(Excerpt) Read more at scitechdaily.com ...
Dressage
Thanks, equis the neatest thing I’ve seen in a long time!
It’s good to be king.
🤣🤣🤣
That was just his birthday party, imagine what his xuanzong must have been like.
They wonder about an added tassel on the horses’ forehead, and ignore the spikes on its butt?
What, ya never seen horse-butt spikes before? ;^)
” For one birthday celebration, he invited a troupe of 400 dancing horses to perform the “Song of the Upturned Cup.” “
I can only imagine what they’d have them do today. Can a horse twerk?
Song of the Upturned Cup? You'll find, young man, the future looks rosier through the bottom of a glass.
Well at least someone got some Moon Tang. Way to go John Glenn!
Well, that one Chinese Emperor had them make an army of 8,000 men plus chariots and horses out of clay and buried them with him. 40,000 horses sounds like something one of those Emperors might do.
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How many pairs of shoes did Marcos have?
LOL!
I see what you did there. You've got horse sense.
Actress Ming-Na Wen. Voice of Mulan. Used to be on ER.
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