A PAINTED POTTERY ‘MYTHICAL BEAST’ STAND, EASTERN HAN DYNASTY

Scientific Analysis Report:
A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 12 July 2018, based on sample number C118j1, sets the firing date of two samples taken between 1400 and 2200 years ago. A copy of the report, signed by Doreen Stoneham for Oxford Authentication, accompanies this lot.

China, 25-220 AD. Crisply modeled as a crouching winged mythical beast, with large eyes, upturned snout, pricked ears, and a short mane extending to the rectangular socket in the back, painted in red, yellow, blue, and black with feather markings and details on a cream-colored ground. The creature, made from two different types of clay, stands on four large three-clawed feet.


Provenance:
From a private collection in the Cotswolds, United Kingdom.

Condition:
Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear with signs of weathering and erosion, flaking to pigments, surface scratches, minor losses including the lower section of the tail, small chips, a few structural cracks, encrustations, drilled holes from sample-taking, all exactly as expected from ancient Han dynasty excavations of this size. Presenting remarkably well.

Weight: 5.9 kg
Dimensions: Length 42.5 cm


Literature comparison:

Compare a similar figure excavated from an Eastern Han tomb at Xianyang, Shaanxi, illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji, Diaosu Bian 2, Qin Han Diaosu (The Great Treasury of Chinese Fine Arts, Sculpture, Qin and Han), Beijing, 1985, volume 2, page 48, pl. 129. Compare a similar pair included in the exhibition, Visions of Man in Chinese Art, Kaikodo, 17 March - 19 April 1997, no. 32.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 16 September 1999, lot 265
Price: USD 25,300 or approx.
EUR 43,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An unusual painted gray pottery mythical beast stand, Eastern Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of painting. Note the related size (43.2 cm).


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 24 March 2011, lot 1304
Price: USD 25,000 or approx.
EUR 31,500
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An unusual painted gray pottery mythical beast-form stand, Eastern Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of painting. Note the related size (40.7 cm).




東漢彩繪神獸俑


中國，西元 25-220 年。 造型簡潔，神獸成蹲伏狀，有翼、大眼，上翹的口鼻，立耳，短鬃毛延伸至背部，紅色、黃色、藍色和黑色彩繪。由兩種不同類型的粘土製成。


科學鑒定報告
:
牛津認證公司於 2018年 年 7 月 12 日出具的一份熱釋光分析報告，基於編號為 C118j1 的樣本，確定了兩個樣本的製作日期為 1400 至 2200 年前。隨附一份由Doreen Stoneham 簽署的牛津認證報告副本。


來源：
英國科茨沃爾德的私人收藏。

品相：
狀態良好，大面積磨損，有風化和侵蝕的跡象，顏料剝落，表面劃痕，包括尾部下段在內的輕微損失，小碎片，一些結構裂縫，結殼，取樣鑽孔。

重量：5.9 公斤
尺寸：長 42.5 厘米


文獻比較:

比較一件相似的陶俑出土於陝西咸陽東漢墓，見《中國美術全集‧雕塑編2‧秦漢雕塑》，北京，1985年，卷 2，頁48，圖129。比較一件相似的一對陶俑，展覽於《Visions of Man in Chinese Art》，Kaikodo，1997年3月17日 - 4月19日，編號32。


拍賣比較：

形制：非常相近
拍賣：紐約佳士得，1999年9月16日，lot 265
價格：USD 25,300（相當今日
EU R 43,000
）
描述：東漢彩繪灰陶神獸俑
專家註釋：比較非常相近的模型和繪畫風格。請注意相近尺寸 (43.2 厘米)。


拍賣比較：

形制：非常相近
拍賣：紐約佳士得，2011年3月24日，lot 1304
價格：USD 25,000（相當今日
EUR 31,500
）
描述：東漢彩繪灰陶神獸俑
專家註釋：比較非常相近的模型和繪畫風格。請注意相近尺寸 (40.7 厘米)。