A PAINTED GRAY POTTERY FIGURE OF A TRICORN, HAN DYNASTY China, 206 BC - 220 AD. The sturdy beast is shown mid-stride with its three-horned bovine head lowered and its long bifurcated tail with curled tips raised. A raised strip along the backbone is applied with three flat knobs.

Provenance: E & J Frankel Ltd., New York, 1991. German private collection, acquired from the above and thence by descent to the last owner. German trade, acquired from the above.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, firing flaws, minor losses and associated old repairs, small chips, few structural cracks, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, drilled holes from sample-taking, all exactly as expected from Han dynasty excavations.
Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence sample analysis has been conducted by the Research Laboratory for Archeology and the History of Art at Oxford University (today known as Oxford Authentication), based on sample number 566t53 taken on 31 July 1991, and sets the firing date of both samples taken between 1700 and 2800 years ago. A copy of the thermoluminescence report, dated 9 September 1991 and signed by Doreen Stoneham (d. 2022), accompanies this lot. A copy of a Polaroid photograph of the present lot, taken in 1991, inscribed 'Submitted as 566t53' (the sample number for the Oxford Authentication thermoluminescence analysis report), and stamped 'Research Laboratory for Archaeology, Oxford University', accompanies this lot.

Weight: 1,550 g
Dimensions: Length 28.5 cm

Literature comparison:
The present figure of a rhinoceros-like beast closely resembles a larger one from a Western Jin dynasty (AD 265-317) tomb in Zhengzhou, Henan province, illustrated in Kaogu Tongxun, 1957:1, no. 1, pl. XIV:4. A closely related larger pottery figure of a tricorn in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is illustrated by S. G. Valenstein in A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1975, p. 57, no. 50. Compare a closely related pottery figure of a tricorn, also dated to the Han dynasty, 33.8 cm long, in the collection of the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore, accession number C-1264.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's New York, 18 March 2016, lot 1472
Price: USD 15,000 or approx. EUR 18,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare and unusually large painted grey pottery figure of a tricorn, late Eastern Han-Six dynasties period (3rd-4th century ad)
Expert remark: Compare the closely related pose, tricorn, face, and tail. Note the size (45 cm).



漢代彩繪灰陶三角獸
中國，公元前206 - 公元220年。這只健壯的三角獸大步向前，頭向下低；長長的分叉尾巴抬起，尖端捲曲；背脊上有三個扁平圓鈕狀突起。

來源：1991年紐約E & J Frankel Ltd.藝廊；德國私人收藏，購於上述藝廊，在同一家族保存至最後一位主人；德國古玩交易，購於上述收藏。
品相：狀況良好，大面積磨損、燒製缺陷、輕微缺損和相應的維修、小刻痕、少量結構裂縫、風化和結殼、取樣鑽孔，所有這些都與漢代考古挖掘所預期的一樣。
科學檢測報告：牛津考古與藝術史研究室（現爲牛津鑒定研究所）根據2個取樣（566t53號，1991年7月31日）進行熱釋光檢測，得出拍品應爲1700至 2800年燒製。隨附一份1991年9月9日 Doreen Stoneham (2022年逝世) 簽署的檢測報告的照片（1991年拍攝），上可見“Submitted as 566t53” (樣本編號)，去蓋章”Research Laboratory for Archaeology，Oxford University“。

重量：1,550 克
尺寸：長 28.5 厘米

文獻比較：
現拍品與河南鄭州西晉墓出土的一件三角獸，圖見《考古通訊》，1957年，第1期，編號XIV:4。一件非常相近的較大的灰陶三角神獸，收藏於紐約大都會博物館，見S. G. Valenstein，《A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics》，紐約，1975年，頁57，編號50。比較一件非常相近的漢代三角獸陶俑(長33.8 厘米)，收藏於新加坡亞洲文明博物館，編號C-1264。

拍賣結果比較：
形制：非常相近
拍賣：紐約佳士得，2016年3月18日，lot 1472
價格：USD 15,000（相當於今日EUR 18,000）
描述：東漢晚期至六朝彩繪灰陶三角獸
專家評論：比較非常相近的姿勢、三角、面部和尾巴。請注意尺寸(45 cm)。