HAN DYNASTY (206 BC - AD 220)

For a related bronze figural support dating to the Han dynasty, see the example cast as a foreigner with outstretched arms seated on a chimera sold at Christie’s New York, 24 March 2011, lot 1261. The foreigner holds in his right hand a tubular support that likely would have supported a detachable shallow receptacle such as those held by the present figure.

The powerfully rendered single-horned mythical beast is emblematic of the Han dynasty interest in a spirit world populated by fantastic creatures. Such mythological creatures were seen as both powerful and protective and usually seen as auspicious. Two related creatures are illustrated by A. Juliano and J. Lerner in the catalogue for the exhibition, Monks and Merchants; Silk Road Treasures from Northwest China, Asia Society, New York, 2001, pp. 44-5, no. 6, a painted wood figure dated to the Han dynasty from Mocuizi, Wuwei, Gansu province, and no. 7, a bronze figure dated to the Wei/Jin dynasties (AD 220-317) from Xiaheqing, Jiuquan, Gansu province. Both depict a single-horned creature standing with head lowered as if to charge.