A PAIR OF UNUSUAL PAINTED GRAY POTTERY CHIMERA-FORM SUPPORTS

QIN/EARLY WESTERN HAN DYNASTY

细节

A PAIR OF UNUSUAL PAINTED GRAY POTTERY CHIMERA-FORM SUPPORTS
Qin/Early Western Han Dynasty
Each solidly modeled in a low crouching stride with one back leg extended, the broad, flattish head held upright and modeled with grimacing mouth, pinched nostrils and small eyes joined by a curved ridge, the ears laid back, with a circular channel in the chest and another in the rump leading to a square vertical aperture in the center of the back, the sides pierced with two small holes where pins attach the separate molded and striped wings and a rectangular wedge-shaped opening at the top of the rump pierced with a small hole where a pin attaches the tail, with traces of black stripes on one, as well as traces of pink, russet pink, pale yellow and white pigment on both
16in. (40.6cm.) long with tail (2)

拍品专文

A very similar pair of mythical beasts with attached wings and long upcurved tail, were excavated from a Qin tomb in the northern suburbs of Xian, illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji, Diaosu; Qin Han Diaosu (The Great Treasury of Chinese Fine Arts, Sculpture; Qin Han Sculpture), vol. 2, Beijing, 1985, p. 34, no. 32; and another, unearthed in 1979, Xian City, Shaanxi province, was included in the exhibition, Treasures from the Han, The Empress Place Museum, Singapore, May 1990 - May 1991, Catalogue, p. 73.

See, also, the pottery mythical beast support sold in these rooms, June 2, 1994, lot 232

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C97s6 is consistent with the dating of this lot