A Chinese Archaic-style bronze horse. Modelled in galloping pose on integral bird-shaped base,...

A Chinese Archaic-style bronze horse. Modelled in galloping pose on integral bird-shaped base, the whole with verdigris finish, 4.5", (11.5cm) high, sold with a copy of 'The Genius of China' exhibition catalogue (Royal Academy September 1973 - January 1974) where an original version is illustrated, back cover and pp.120-121, described (p. 119, entry 222) as "Bronze figure of a flying horse standing by one leg on a swallow, excavated in 1969 at Wu-wei, Kansu...this piece is the most remarkable sculpture of a horse that has been found, and the only one which seriously attempts to represent the posture of the galloping animal...Fei yen, 'flying swallow' was a sobriquet of the lady Chao, wife of the emperor Ch'eng Ti...earlier the emperor Wen Ti possessed nine horses of which one bore the same name."