Tenth century. Tra Kieu Style. 65 cm x 72 cm.

Horses are relatively infrequently in the Cham Sculpture, unlike elephants and lions, and usually in low relief. Exception that high-relief, isolated, a couple of horses at a trot, 0.65 m high hoof to the head and 0.76 m long from tail to mouth, which unfortunately is chipped at both . Still, any trace of the jaws, their eyes are being worn away. Their neck to five folds hang eight or ten bells. Two of their front legs are broken knee, other than being chipped hooves. On the back of each horse is a saddle without decoration, which differs from those of échiffre found in Thach An, dated the eleventh century, currently on display at the Museum, and whose stools are lavishly decorated.
On one of the horses is a horseman dressed in a pan with sampot behind fluttering. He is astride his horse, or rather clings to the hands gripping the reins, his head missing. The tail of the beast puffed up her grave baleen. Regarding the other horse, sculpture feet and tail are still in the chiselling.
Horses are medium sized, slightly plump. The rendering of the statue is still brief, stiff or coarse. But the fact that it has some value because the rarity of the pattern, especially when the two horses are paired here as independent of other reasons, as an almost round, helping to enrich the Cham Sculpture point of view of the variety of genres. This work dates from the tenth century, and belongs to the style of Tra Kieu.


"Letter from Da Nang" Ho Tan Tuan¹
1 Setting the Museum of Cham Sculpture Da Nang.Photos of the author. French text revised by Ho Quy.

Article de "La Lettre de la SACHA" n°2, décember 1997, page 10.