Lot 3. A large pottery figure of a shaman, Eastern Han Dynasty. Estimate £5,000 - 7,000 (€7,000 - 9,800). Unsold. Photo Bonhams.

The standing figure wearing an animal-skin over a tight three-quarter-length tunic detailed with a long strap and belted at the waist and rope-tied sandals at his feet, holding a writhing serpent in his left hand and an axe in his right, the face with serene expression below a small squared cap, wood stand. 100cm (39 1/2in) high. (2).

The result of Oxford Thermoluminiscence test, no. 666j87, is consistent with the dating of this lot. 

Note: Figures of shamans have often been excavated from Han dynasty tombs in Sichuan Province, where they protected the tomb occupant against the malign influences that they might encounter in their afterlife. Compare a similar figure included in the collection of the Sichuan Provincial Museum, illustrated by J.Rawson, Mysteries of Ancient China, London, 1996, fig.113, p.211; another similar figure is included in the collection of the Guimet Museum, illustrated by J.P.Desroches, 'The Chinese Art Department's Enrichment Policy', Orientations, May 1991, fig.10, p.87.

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE ART, 12 Nov 2015 10:00 GMT - LONDON, NEW BOND STREET