A LARGE WELL-MODELED HORSE AND RIDER

Details

A LARGE WELL-MODELED HORSE AND RIDER
HAN DYNASTY

The muscular horse shown with head pulled in and ears laid back, pierced behind the mouth for the attachment of a harness, with detachable, docked tail, covered overall with a dark red pigment, the separate rider modeled with legs wide apart to fit astride the broad back and the elongated feet shown bare, with sockets in the shoulders for the attachment of arms, the face well modeled and the hair divided into two sections and drawn back and up into a topknot, traces of black pigment on the hair, some restoration--25¾in. (65.5cm.) high overall

Lot Essay

Recent excavation of a burial pit associated with the tumulus of the Han Emperor Jing (r. 156-141 B.C.) north of Xi'an, Shaanxi, yielded a large group of nude male pottery figures. These figures were buried with weapons and armor and, originally, were dressed in military uniforms. All are now missing their arms, which were probably made of wood and would have been movable. While no pottery horses were buried in this pit, remains of wooden horses and chariots were found, Wenwu 1991, no. 4, pp.1-13. The appearance of this figure with its sensitively modeled face, slender body and missing arms suggests that it is closely related to the Emperor Jing figures

The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test 666j70 is consistent with the dating of this lot