Lot 223. A large painted grey pottery figure of a mythical beast, Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220); 48cm long. Sold for €2,560.  Photo Bonhams.

Well modelled as a crouching and winged mythical beast, the powerful body with a ridged back arched above strong haunches, the upturned snout pulled in an aggressive snarl, with bulging eyes and pricked ears, a rectangular aperture behind the neck, traces of white pigment.

The results of TL-Analysis C100x45, Oxford Authentication Ltd., 15 August 2000 are consistent with the dating of this lot.

Provenance: von Ledebur Collection, Prien am Chiemsee, acquired in London in the 1970s (by repute)
Nagel, Stuttgart, 14 May 1999, lot 2180.

Note: A similar model of a mythical beast excavated from an Eastern Han tomb at Xianyang, Shaanxi, is illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji: diaosu bian: Qin Han diaosu, Beijing, 1985, vol.2, p.48, pl.129. Compare also with a similar pair, included in the exhibition Visions of Man in Chinese Art, Kaikodo, New York, 17 March - 19 April 1997, cat.no.32. A similar beast was sold at Christie's New York, 16 September 1999, lot 265.

Bonhams - Cornette de Saint Cyr. CHINESE ART FROM A GERMAN FAMILY COLLECTION, Paris, 26 October 2023