A RARE PAIR OF PAINTED GRAY POTTERY FIGURES OF PIGS

HAN DYNASTY

Details

A RARE PAIR OF PAINTED GRAY POTTERY FIGURES OF PIGS
Han Dynasty
Naturalistically modeled, one as a hog, the other a pregnant sow, each standing foursquare on cloven trotters without a base, the head held up and looking forward with a pierced snout, the ears lifted slightly and the rump pierced for the insertion of a tail, the hog with short fangs, the sow with a large rounded belly and eight teats, traces of orange pigment remaining
17¼in. (43.7cm.) long (2)

Exhibited

Hong Kong, The University of Hong Kong Art Gallery, Art Treasures from Shanghai and Hong Kong, November 1996 - January 1997, p. 82, nos. 14 and 15

Lot Essay

A pair of pregnant, white-painted pottery pigs measuring 44cm. long were excavated from the attendant pits of the Yangling Mausoleum of the Han Emperor Jingdi and illustrated in line drawings in Wenwu, 1994:6, p. 14, fig. 19.1

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C97c74 is consistent with the dating of this lot