A HIGHLY IMPORTANT BRONZE HEAD OF A CELESTIAL HORSE, HAN DYNASTY

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A HIGHLY IMPORTANT BRONZE HEAD OF A CELESTIAL HORSE, HAN DYNASTY Alloy composition report: The alloy composition is not simply compatible with a Han dynasty attribution; it is remarkably characteristic of Han bronze technology. The combination of approximately 72.8% copper, 20.2% tin and 6.8% lead corresponds closely to the ternary copper–tin–lead alloys repeatedly documented in published analyses of authenticated Han dynasty bronzes. Such high-tin, leaded bronzes were the standard material for finely cast objects during the Han period, combining excellent casting properties with high hardness and the ability to reproduce exceptionally crisp detail. Comparable alloy compositions have been published in numerous archaeometallurgical studies of Han bronzes, including the analytical surveys by Ma Chengyuan (Ancient Chinese Bronzes), Yin Zhiyi (Scientific and Technological Insights on Ancient Chinese Bronzes), as well as more recent archaeometric research by Pollard & Liu on Chinese bronze alloying practices and compositional traditions. Modern analytical studies of excavated Han bronzes likewise confirm that copper–tin–lead ternary alloys with broadly comparable proportions represent one of the characteristic metallurgical signatures of the period. The trace amount of silicon (0.2%) is technologically insignificant and can readily be explained by naturally occurring impurities in the ore or minor contamination during smelting and casting. Overall, the metallurgical composition is entirely consistent with established Han dynasty bronze technology and provides strong scientific support for the proposed dating. Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Laboratory Kotalla on 9 May 2018, based on sample number 02R150518, sets the manufacturing date of both samples taken to be 2100 years +/-13% ago, consistent with the dating above. A copy of the report accompanies this lot. China, 206 BC-220 AD. Finely cast in a bold and sculptural style, the head expressively modeled with mouth agape revealing two rows of teeth below wide flaring nostrils, bulbous eyes and pricked ears, prominent cheekbones, and short tufts of hair falling down into a squared mane. Dimensions: Length 40 cm (excl. stand), Height 50.3 cm (incl. stand) Mounted on an associated stand. (2) The present lot compares favorably to the famous group of large bronze 'flying horses' excavated in Gansu in 1969, see W. Watson, The Genius of China, London, 1973, Catalogue no. 222, where it is stated that this breed of tall horse was introduced from Central Asia at the beginning of the first century BC. Literature indicates that large-scale bronze horses were originally part of a bronze funerary entourage in provincial elite tombs during the Eastern Han Dynasty. The Chinese did not ride horses, but used them to draw war chariots or carriages. Such horses were extremely hard to produce in one mold, therefore several pieces were joined together to form the sculpture. The cost in terms of labor and material would have been immense and is an indication of the wealth owned even by provincial landowners and officials. During the Western Han Dynasty, although large amounts of terracotta horses and associated cavalry have been excavated among the funerary offerings, large bronze horses were apparently very rare but became more numerous during the Eastern Han. Several similar large bronze horses have been excavated from tombs around Central China, including a pair of large bronze horses from Fangcunling, Xushui county, Hebei province, which dates to the Eastern Han; and another bronze horse from Tomb 8, Xingyi, Guizhou province, also dating to the Eastern Han. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related 11-piece bronze figure of a horse, with the head cast separately from the neck, dated Han dynasty, 127 cm, from a European private collector and previously on loan to the Musée Guimet, illustrated by Maud Girard-Geslan, Un Cheval Exceptionnel, Association pour le rayonnement des arts asiatiques, 1993, Paris, and in an article in the August 1993 issue of Orientations. Compare a closely related bronze figure of a horse, the head with similar facial features and expression, dated to the Eastern Han dynasty, 114 cm tall, in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession number 2002.45.

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