A Chinese Han dynasty horse head Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) earthenware gray pottery on a museum-quality clear lucite base.

Dimensions: including the base approx.: 8 inches high. 8 inches wide. 2.5 inches depth.

Excellent condition with wear commensurate of age. Comes with the original receipt from a Chinese antique dealer dated 2002.

Representations of horses, like this finely carved head, were placed in the tombs of important people. Horse head figurines made for funerary purposes have been excavated from tombs dated to the Warring States period (475-220 B.C.E) and throughout the Han period. Horses were highly prized in China after being introduced from the West. Chinese legend tells of a breed of horse called tianma that could run 300 miles a day and sweat blood at the end of the journey. Traces of unfired red paint visible in the folds and textured areas of the figurine indicate that it was once painted red, like other horse figurines produced at the time, to illustrate this story.