CHINE, DYNASTIE HAN (206 AV. JC.-220 AP. JC.)

The art form of these entertainers is called shuoshang (talking and singing), which is a type of musical storytelling. Compare the similar figure unearthed in 1982 from Majiashan tomb no.23, Sanhexiang, Xindu county, Sichuan Province, now in the Administrative Office for Cultural Relics, Xindu county, Sichuan Province, exhibited in The Quest for Eternity, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1987, Catalogue no.38, colour plate on p.75 and front cover, ans also exhibited in China, 5000 Years, Innovation and Transformation in the Arts, Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1998, Catalogue no.97. Similar finds are discussed by Liu Zhiyuan, Kaogu xuebao, 1958, no.1:87-103. A similar figure was sold at Christie's New York, 23-24 March 1998, lot 555.