Fine Tall Chinese Western Han Dynasty Painted Pottery Soldier (Archer)

This impressive pottery model of a warrior was made over 2,000 years ago during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 8). It is made from a dense grey pottery and quite highly-fired. He stands alert with his right hand raised. The pack on his back, a container for arrows, shows that he is an archer. In the hands would originally have been placed a miniature wooden shield and weapon, now long since rotted away and lost. Note also the hairstyle, a bun on the back of the head..

The surface has been "cold painted" in a base coat of a creamy-white pigment with other coloured pigments on top. These include, unusually, blue, purple, red and black, good traces of which still remain.

This is the rarer larger type of Western Han soldier; most known examples, although sometimes of a similar height, being much "slimmer" (see final image for an example).

It comes with a sturdy custom-made display stand.

Height (not including the stand): 48 cm (18.75 inches). It is in exceptional condition with no obvious sign of restoration or repair.

From a long-established English collection, acquired in Hong Kong some twenty years ago (supplied with paperwork suggesting a value at that time of HK$32,000).

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