A PAINTED CERAMIC FUNERARY MODEL OF A STANDARD BEARER
China, Han dynasty

The figure standing in frontal position, dressed in a long jacket fastened at the waist and wide trousers on the boots, hands folded at belly level to hold the staff of the banner, the details of the face carefully painted in red and black.

48 cm high

Provenance: Fabrizio Savi collection, acquired from Galerie Moderne, Bruxelles, between 1995 and 2000.
Ceramic sculptures like this (mingqi) have been found in tomb contexts in numbers that can reach as many as several thousand. The aim was to recreate a real army that accompanies the deceased on his journey to the afterlife, and that is why soldiers are found with various functions, most commonly the simple infantrymen and more rarely the standard bearers.

* The thermoluminescence carried out on 20th september 1999 from the Brussels Art Laboratory. Nuclear Section. Institut Superieur Industriel de Bruxelles confirms the proposed dating.