A POTTERY MYTHICAL BEAST STAND WITH RESIDUE OF PAINTING

Description:

China, Eastern Han dynasty
L. 42 cm
Finely modeled as a crouching, winged mythical beast, with pricked ears, short tail and a short mane extending to the rectangular socket in the back, with residue of polychrome painting on a cream ground.
From a European private collection, acquired at L.H.W. Hong Kong, 16 May 1994
A similar figure excavated from an Eastern Han tomb at Xianyang, Shaanxi, is illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji; Diaosu bian 2; Qin Han Diaosu, Beijing, 1985, vol. 2, p. 48, pl. 129. See, also, a similar pair included in the exhibition, Visions of Man in Chinese Art, Kaikodo, 17 March - 19 April 1997, no. 32; another one sold by Christie's New York, 24 March 2011, lot 1304; and another sold by Christie's New York, 16 September 1999, lot 265 - Very minor rest.