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I purchased this camel about 20 years ago it came from China via Hong Kong,at that time many Tang figures were coming out of China via Hong Kong and the prices dropped a lot. Is it possible to determine that it is genuine without having the T L test? Its height is just under 18 inches
Thank you.

Hi Alfred,

Yes there are other ways than the TL to authenticate your camel.
One is the stereoscopy that will reveal signs of age on the object. It is a visual test to be performed by a laboratory.

If you are not willing to get your piece to a lab, you can do some "homework" on the camel to find out if your piece has a good chance to be real:
- Check the color of the clay used. Look under the belly of the camel, there should be a hole, right? (if not, your piece is fake.)
If the clay is white/beige = possible but rare
If red = possible
If light grey = fake
If dark grey to black = fake

You can also check if the white deposit in between the cracks of the glaze is easy to remove. If so, the piece is fake.

These are a few pointers easy to check by yourself.

Personnaly, and at first glance, I find that the camel is out of proportion for a Tang one.
The legs are not long enough and the body is too fat.

Here is an example to illustrate what I mean.

Have a nice day,
Pierre.

Many thanks for your very interesting reply, I will do some research on the camel as indicated by you.

I have made the various checks there is a hole in the belly which has some sand in which has set very hard. The clay colour is white /beige .There is no white deposit as there are no cracks.There is minute crazing all over the camel.I have just been loaned a book which has a black and white photo of a camel just like mine ,same dimensions. It is called The Genius of China. It is a catalogue of archaeological finds in China held at the Royal Academy 1973/74
It mentions the camels load as vegetables and game plus the face of a hairy central Asian

Hi Alfred,

I circled in red an area where I can see some white stuff between the glaze cracks.
This is supposed to be lime created by water deposit.
If your piece have a chance to be real, this white stuff is very difficult/almost impossible to remove.
Try to wash it with a wet cloth or soft tooth bruch.
If the white stuff does not go away, it is a very good sign.

Also circled in purple on your picture is some earth I think; please check if you find some in the hidden areas, such as indicate by the arrow.
If there is earth in all those hidden areas, it's a good sign also.

The fact that your piece in made of white clay indicates that it is a high class, very rare to find Tang sancai, coming from a specific region of China.
On another hand, it is also the favorite clay used by the fake makers.
That why I mentioned previously it is possible but rare.

If you can post a pic of the hole in the belly of the camel, please do so, I might be able to learn more from it.

Have a nice day,
Pierre

Pierre,

Are you sure your camel is not Sui?

Hi Balint,
Yes, I understand your SUI suggestion. The glaze "straw color" is normaly from that period.
But look at the little fellow that comes with it...
I think it is a typical "Tang" foreigner I think.
Maybe this is an early Tang?

Hi again Pierre
Ihave done what you suggested and find that there is very hard sand attached to the camel I got some off and looking through a magnifying glass find that the crazing comes up white in places and I cannot clean it.
regards
Alfred

Hi Pierre and Balint
Many thanks for you interest in the camel I now attach a photo of the hole in the belly
Alfred

Hi Alfred,

Thanks for posting this picture.

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to draw an accurate conclusion as far as the authenticity is concerned without handling the piece and look at it with a microscope.

To determinate it's authenticity there are a few other points to check.
I cannot do this from looking at the photos only.

If you can try to find/look at the followings, it will raise the chances of your camel to be old.

1- The glaze should be eroded in prominent areas.
2- Deterioration in an heterogeneous way
3- Mineral stains on the glaze
4- presence of earth salt
5- presence of vegetal root
6- presence of magnesium bioxyde.
7- earth deposit in cracks and non prominent areas.
8- Opaline color refections and/or whitish, non shiny areas on the glaze.

So far, to my humble opinion, you have a 50-50 chances to have a good one, and I explain you why I am not more optimistic:

- White clay: dangerous
- You found in a book an authentic camel exactly like yours. This can be taken both way. Yours could be a repro of the famous one.
- Presence of white stuff (limestone) in the cracks: it is a good sign you cannot remove it, but it can also be made to look like limestone with the use of chimicals.So 50/50 chances to be real.
- I dont see some heart in this crack. There should be some. (see photo 1, pink arrow)
- The non prominent area have no colors in it, while the prominent ones have. It should be the opposite (se photo 1, orange arrows)
- Seems to have some blue color there (see photo 1 , circled in blue). I find that strange, it should be green.
- The earth deposit circled in photo 2 is bubly.It means recently added. And it does not looks like the same kind of earth as inside the hole in the belly.
- The black eyes of the camel + on the saddle. These are very prominent areas and yet it seems that they are intact, not corroded.

Sorry, I can't be more helpfull than this from photos only.
I think it would be recommendable to have it looked at by a lab.

Good luck,
Pierre.

Alfred,

It suddenly strikes me...the eyes of the camel + the saddle...looks like they are black glaze?

If so, I'm sorry to say that your piece is a recent repro.

Have a nice day.
Pierre.

Many thanks Pierre for all the information you have given me.

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