HAN DYNASTY (206 BC - AD 220)

Details

TWO GREY POTTERY RECTANGULAR TOMB BRICKS
HAN DYNASTY (206 BC - AD 220)
The first is of grey tone and impressed on either side in the center with five parallel rows of lozenge-shaped panels, each containing small raised bosses, set between two rows of rectangular panels, each containing a face or a single human figure, and all enclosed by borders of peacocks in profile, and short, serrated lines. The second is of beige tone and impressed on either side with a similar pattern of panels, but of varying number to the first, and is also impressed with double circles between the lozenge-shaped panels of the central section. The upper and lower panels exhibit imprints of a masked warrior, two horses in front of a building, or an archer on horseback, six of which have inscriptions that possibly read ru shan, chu dong bei, tu zi bai (enter the mountains, exit the northeast region, [caught] one hundred rabbits), and ba qian li (eight thousand li), and are all enclosed within borders of small chevrons and similar serrated lines.
36½ x 15¼ in. (92 x 38.7 cm.) and 38 x 14¼ (96.5 x 36.2 cm.), stone stands

Provenance

Christie's London, 11 December 1989, lot 59.
Christie's New York, 19-20 September 2013, lot 1251.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

Brought to you by

Olivia Hamilton

asianartny@christies.com 212-636-2180

Lot Essay

A smaller, square-form tomb brick in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, is impressed with similar panels to those seen on the second brick, but in a different order, and is illustrated in Chinese Art in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 1972, p. 149, no. 99. It features a row of three archers on horseback, with the same inscriptions found on the present brick, a row of the two archers in front of a building, and a row of masked warriors, all enclosed by a similar peacock border.

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