A RARE GROUP OF PAINTED FEMALE 'LONG SLEEVE' DANCERS, SHEN-I, WESTERN HAN DYNASTY China, 206 BC-220 AD. Finely modeled each of heavy grey pottery, the dancers wear long, tightly wrapped, layered robes that accentuate the slender profile of their curved bodies as they bend forward in a moment of the dance. The robes flare at the base and are hiked up at the back in a graceful arch, while the empty ends of the full sleeves of the larger figure are flung outwards in sharp angles. Their faces are modeled with strong, intent features, and her hair is parted in the middle and combed back in a looped knot. There are remains of white, pink, red and black pigment. (2) Provenance: An Austrian private collection. Galerie Zacke, Vienna, April 28th, 2004. Dr. Mons Fischer, acquired from the above for EUR €33,000. A copy of the invoice from Galerie Zacke, Vienna, April 28th, 2004, is accompanying this lot. A seasoned private collector of modern and contemporary art, Dr. Mons Fischer has also acquired fine Chinese works of art since the 1980s, eventually building one of the most important collections of its kind in Austria. Condition: Some repair and touchups as generally expected from Han dynasty excavations. Losses, fissures and encrustations. Each statue with three drilled holes from sample-taking. Overall very good condition. Scientific Report for the standing figure: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on February 13th, 2020, based on sample number C120a74, sets the firing date of three samples taken at 1500 - 2400 years ago. A copy of the report, issued by Oxford Authentication, is accompanying this lot. Scientific Report for the seated figure: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on February 11th, 2020, based on sample number C120a75, sets the firing date of three samples taken at 1500 - 2400 years ago. A copy of the report, issued by Oxford Authentication, is accompanying this lot. Weight: 9 kg Dimensions: Height 52.5 cm (the standing figure) and 32.5 cm (the seated figure) Music and dance were important elements of court ritual during the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), and these highly elegant figures in their tightfitting, wraparound robes (shen-i) represents a 'long-sleeve' dancer. A figure of this type, which has one long sleeve flung over her shoulder and the other pendent at her side, in the Weber Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, is illustrated by D. P. Leidy, How to Read Chinese Ceramics, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2015, no. 3, where Leidy includes a poem that refers to these dancers: „And they waved their long, dangling sleeves, With a curvaceous, cultivated bearing, Their lovely dresses fluttered like flowers in the wind. Their eyes cast darting glances, One look could overthrow a city." Literature comparison: Another dancer of this type is illustrated by R. D. Jacobsen, Appreciating China: Gifts from Ruth and Bruce Dayton, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, pp. 144-45, no. 76. The sleeves of this dancer are shown dangling from her raised hands which are held in front of her body. See, also, the four related dancers included in the Eskenazi exhibition, Early Chinese art: 8th century BC - 9th century AD, London, 6 June - 8 July 1995, nos. 33 and 35 to 37. The empty ends of the sleeves are depicted as flat like those of the present standing figure. Auction result comparison: Compare with a closely related figure of a single female dancer at Christies New York in Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art part I, 17 - 18 March 2016, lot 1473, sold for USD $37,500. 罕見一組彩繪長袖舞女陶俑，西漢 中國，公元前206至公元220年。灰色陶器精心模擬舞者們的神態動作。他們穿著長而緊的舞衣，長袍分層，更加突出了她們修長優美的體態。袍子綫條流暢，立俑的整個袖子飛揚。舞女面部表情細膩，頭髮中分，腦後梳成髮髻。殘餘白、粉、和黑色顏料。 來源：一個奧地利私人老收藏。維也納Zacke藝廊，2004年4月28日。Dr. Mons Fischer購於上述藝廊，成交價EUR €33.000。隨附發票複印件。Dr. Mons Fischer是一位經驗豐富的現代和當代藝術私人收藏家，從1980年代開始收藏中國藝術品，最終在奧地利建立了此類藏品最重要的收藏之一。 品相：漢代考古普遍預期的一些維修和修整。 缺損、裂縫和結殼。 測試所需的樣品採集產生的三個鑽孔。 總體狀況很好。 隨附牛津熱釋光測試檢測證書拷貝 重量：9公斤 尺寸：立像高52.5厘米，坐像32.5厘米 拍賣結果比較：一件類似的舞女陶俑2016年3月17至18日紐約佳士得《中國陶瓷和藝術品 I》拍號 1473，成交價USD $37.500。