Architectural fragment, perhaps from a temple; marble carved relief with horseman and figures, China; 550-600 (Northern Qi or Sui dynasty)

Part of a railing, white stone with patches of brown, with flat top and base, curved at left and right, carved in shallow relief with images of a horseman, groom and canopy bearers with trees and moon.

Purchased with Art Fund support, the Vallentin Bequest, Sir Percival David and the Universities China Committee

Eumorfopoulos Collection

This object came from the collections of George Eumorfopoulos (1863-1939), the son of a Greek merchant. George entered the firm of Ralli Brothers, merchants, of London, of which for a time he was representative in south Russia; he rose eventually to be vice-president and retired in 1934.

Soon after his marriage in 1890, Eumorfopoulos started collecting, moving from European porcelain to an interest in Chinese. It was a time when knowledge of Chinese art in the West was about to expand rapidly: archaeology and railway construction in north China cut into tombs richly furnished with pottery figures and vessels of the first to the tenth century. In his preface to the first of the six volumes of R. L. Hobson's monumental catalogue of his Chinese and other Eastern ceramics (1925-8), Eumorfopoulos recorded that it was in 1906 that he saw the first specimens of tomb wares: 'First came the Han, then the Tang (figures of horses and camels first in 1910), and lastly the Wei' (Hobson, The George Eumorfopoulos Collection, vii). His collection grew rapidly until it became remarkably representative of the ceramics of the Song and earlier periods. Eumorfopoulos then launched out into the field of Chinese archaic bronzes and jades, and eventually of sculpture and paintings as well, until his collection became the greatest of his time. Eumorfopoulos had intended to bequeath his collection to the nation, but in 1934 he found it necessary to realize a part. Accordingly, he offered the national museums all that they required of the Chinese section for £100,000, a sum estimated at the time to be well under half the market value. The money was found, and a division between the British and Victoria and Albert museums was made on a basis of three to two.

After the sale of 1934, Eumorfopoulos still continued to buy Chinese antiquities; his taste was wide, however, ranging from Islamic and medieval art to modern European painting and sculpture. The vitality of his judgement is shown in the remarkable examples of contemporary work which he acquired, largely through his patronage of young artists, in particular sculptors: he owned paintings by Matisse and sculptures by Barbara Hepworth. He also supported archaeological studies and was one of the founders of the Oriental Ceramic Society and its first president from 1921 until his death at 7 Chelsea Embankment on 19 December 1939. His remaining collections were sold at auction by Sothebys from 28 to 31 May and on 5 and 6 June 1940 and, after his widow's death, in 1944. His collection is represented in the major national collections of Chinese art.

Information taken from Basil Gray, rev. M. Tregear, DNB website.

This was initially thought to be older and date from the 6 dynasties period; from ca.200 to 600AD.

This fragment has a central image of a crowned figure on horseback with a canopy and fan and attendants, framed by a decorative plant motive. The group are moving from right to left, flanked by flying creatures. Below are mountains. The imagery is Buddhist, perhaps representing a heavenly journey. Compared to other carving in this gallery, the carving is low relief and flat. It is likely that sculptors copied the design from a two-dimensional illustration on paper.

A.56-1937