Page 20 - Bonhams FINE CHINESE ART London November 2 2021

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN 紳士藏品
214 TP
A VERY LARGE RARE GREY STONEWARE HUMAN-HEADED
PILLAR
Han Dynasty
The hollow rectangular pillar with two canted corners, moulded with
panel of stylised foliate and archaic motifs, surmounted by a crouching
human headed figure, the arms held together at the front and legs
tucked in at the sides.
123cm (48 1/2in) high.
£12,000 - 18,000
CNY110,000 - 160,000
漢 石雕人像柱

Provenance: a distinguished UK Private collection, according to the
owner the pillar has been in their collection from circa 1975

來源：英國傑出私人收藏，據稱於約1975年入藏

The present pillar would have been positioned before the entrance to Heavenly realms were also part of this elaborate settings and normally
a multi-chambered underground burial belonging to a high-ranking depicted in the form of spirits riding clouds, unusual birds and the
member of the Han dynasty. The various scenes of entertainment, four animals, symbolising the four quadrants of the sky and earth; see
parades, protective guardians and mythical figures formed part of J.Rawson, ‘The Eternal Palaces of the Western Han: A New View of
an elaborate setting aimed at sustaining the tomb occupant in their the Universe’ in Artibus Asiae, vol.59, 1999, pp.5-58; see also ibid.,
afterlife. The ancestors in China were believed to be active participants ‘Creating Universes: Cultural Exchange as Seen in Tombs in Northern
to the life of their living offspring, which they could positively influence if China Between the Han and Tang Periods’, in Between Han and Tang.
provided with continuous nourishment and all the right necessities for Cultural and Artistic Interactions in a Transformative period, Beijing,
their afterlife existence. A miniature universe was thus presented to the 2001, pp.113-152.
tomb occupant in the form of multi-chambered burials, constructed
underground, which mimicked the large estate inhabited by the owner Compare with a nearly identical stoneware pillar, first century AD, in the
before death. These included parades of officials entering the gate, British Museum, London, illustrated by S.Vainker, Chinese Pottery and
banqueting and hunting scenes, reception halls, musical scenes. Porcelain: From Prehistory to the Present, London, 1991, p.46, fig.33.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
18 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.