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Lot Essay
Large bronze and pottery, as well as wood, figures of horses were produced for burial purposes during the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), and these powerful models attest to the high esteem in which horses were held during this period. It was at this time, also, that the local breed of horse was improved upon, as a result of the importation from the Wushan kingdom and Ferghana of a type of horse referred to as tianma ('celestial horses'); it was this new breed that was portrayed by the wood, bronze and ceramic sculptors of the Han dynasty, who managed to capture their strength and grace.
Large wood figures of horses of Han dynasty date appear to be considerably rarer than those in pottery or bronze, no doubt due to the vulnerability of the material. A complete wood horse, of slightly larger size (70.5 cm. high), in the collection of the Portland Art Museum, is illustrated by D. Jenkins, Masterworks in Wood: China and Japan, Portland Art Museum, 1976, pp. 20-21, no. 1, where it is dated 3rd century BC. In the catalogue entry the author notes that the figure is reputed to have come from Changsha, the site of the Kingdom of Chu. A related head and torso of a wood horse, bearing traces of pigment and dated to the Han dynasty, is illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, Chine connue & inconnue, Musée Cernuschi, Paris, October 1992 - February 1993, pp. 114-17. See also the yet larger, complete horse (86.4 cm. high), which is portrayed in a more animated pose, and was sold at Christie’s New York, 24 March 2011, lot 1297.
Large wood figures of horses of Han dynasty date appear to be considerably rarer than those in pottery or bronze, no doubt due to the vulnerability of the material. A complete wood horse, of slightly larger size (70.5 cm. high), in the collection of the Portland Art Museum, is illustrated by D. Jenkins, Masterworks in Wood: China and Japan, Portland Art Museum, 1976, pp. 20-21, no. 1, where it is dated 3rd century BC. In the catalogue entry the author notes that the figure is reputed to have come from Changsha, the site of the Kingdom of Chu. A related head and torso of a wood horse, bearing traces of pigment and dated to the Han dynasty, is illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, Chine connue & inconnue, Musée Cernuschi, Paris, October 1992 - February 1993, pp. 114-17. See also the yet larger, complete horse (86.4 cm. high), which is portrayed in a more animated pose, and was sold at Christie’s New York, 24 March 2011, lot 1297.