Page 80 - Bonhams Art from the Scholar's Studio, September 16, 2013 NY

Property from the Estates of Marilyn and Milton Myers, Hollywood, Florida
8126
A large grey pottery figure of a shaman
Eastern Han dynasty (25AD- 220AD)
Standing upright, bearing an axe in one hand and a serpent in the other, the face distinctively
shaped with bulging, alert eyes, enormous attentive ears, exposed fangs, and an exaggerated
lolling tongue, wearing an animal fleece across his shoulders with a three-quarter length tunic and
straw sandals, the details well-defined.
44½in (113cm) high
$20,000 - 30,000
Provenance:
Christie’s New York September 17, 2008, Sale 2207, Lot 403
Acquired in Hong Kong in the 1990’s
Unglazed pottery figures such as the current example have been excavated from sites associated
with Bashu culture of Eastern Han dynasty Sichuan. Exhibiting the same features such as the
oversized ears and long tongue, and bearing the same implements, it is thought that such figures
represented shamans, and they were placed at the entrance of the tomb.
The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. Thermoluminescence test number C108u77 is consistent
with the dating of this lot.

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