HAN DYNASTY (206 BC-AD 220)

Large mastiff-like dogs such as the present example, are generally depicted in alert postures, either seated or standing. A dog shown baring its teeth, snarling, from Majiashan, Xinduxian, and another from Bijiashan, Suiningxian, are illustrated in Wenwu ziliao congkan no. 9, Akiyama Terukazu, et al, Arts of China: Neolithic Cultures to the T'ang Dynasty - Recent Discoveries (Tokyo, 1968), nos. 304-307; and Kaogu xuebao 1958, no. 1, (pp. 87-104), pl. IX; and Kaogu 1988, no. 3, p. 223, fig. 6:7.

The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 666a37 is consistent with the dating of this lot.