Figure in Central Asian Dress

This figure wears soft, peaked caps, long coats with wide lapels, and tall boots—garments that resemble Persian and Central Asian dress in the 8th century. By that time, Chinese merchants and envoys traveling along Silk Road trade routes had brought previously unknown styles from such regions to Tang-dynasty fashion and leisure activities. This figure holds a small bird that cannot be confidently identified. The work may depict a falcon—which were bred for sport in Persia—or a species from China’s southern and western borderlands, such as a parrot or cockatoo, which would have been collected for pleasure.