WARRING STATES-HAN DYNASTY, 4TH-3RD CENTURY BC

Details

THREE UNUSUAL PAINTED GREY POTTERY FIGURES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS
WARRING STATES-HAN DYNASTY, 4TH-3RD CENTURY BC
Comprising two cows and a ram, each is modeled with knife-cut body, the facial features detailed in black, white and red pigment, with further black detailing on the horns and ruff of the ram, and traces of red pigment on the hide of one of the cows.
Cows 8 in. (20.3 cm.) high, ram 5¾ in. (14.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Christie's New York, 3 June 1993, lot 157.

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Lot Essay

These figures are similar in their spontaneous carving style, which leaves the traces of the knife visible, to that of Han wooden figures found in the area of Wuwei, Gansu, which suggests that these figures too, are from the northwestern regions. See the figures of oxen in Gansusheng Museum, illustrated in Wuwei Handai mudiao, Beijing, 1984, pp. 9-12. See, also, the two stylistically similar pottery figures, a boar and a horse, sold at Christie's New York, 1 December 1998, lots 187 and 188.
The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 666k76 is consistent with the dating of this lot.

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