A PAINTED POTTERY 'STICK' FIGURINE, HAN DYNASTY
A PAINTED POTTERY 'STICK' FIGURINE, HAN DYNASTY
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve
The Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger, entry from 2005:
“No. 236, FH 1991, Chinese Han terracotta fig. of a man 0-200 AD”
Gallery price: EUR 1,980 or approx.
EUR 3,300 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing.
China, 206 BC-220 AD. The figure stands in a rigid posture with legs shoulder-width apart. The face features almond-shaped eyes below gently arched brows, a long nose, and slender lips, and the hair is styled into a topknot and accentuated in black. The elongated figure is dressed in a flaring tunic with red and black pigments.
Provenance: Freddy Hansen, Copenhagen, Denmark, by 1991. Jorgen Ruben, acquired from the above. In the Jorgen Ruben Collection for 35 years.
Freddy Hansen was a Danish dealer of Asian art and antiquities, particularly Buddhist sculpture. Based in Copenhagen, he was active from the 1950s onward and became one of Denmark's most prominent dealers in Asian art before his retirement in the early 1990s.
Jorgen Ruben is a Danish art dealer and collector who has been active for over four decades and is highly regarded in the fields of Asian art and classical antiquities. Raised in an art-conscious family, Ruben was exposed early to both modern painting and European decorative arts. He began working in the art trade in the mid-1970s, first with Persian rugs and later with antiques, while travels to Iran and a visit to Persepolis sparked his lasting interest in antiquity. After studies in Copenhagen and London, he worked in England with a dealer in early furniture, before travelling widely in Latin America and Asia, deepening his knowledge of regional art and culture. In 1984 Ruben opened a gallery in Copenhagen dealing in Asian antiquities. He was later active in London and, in the early 2000s, operated the Brussels gallery Classic Art. Much of his career, however, has been conducted privately from home, selling by appointment to collectors, galleries, and museums. Ruben has always bought selectively, choosing only works that deeply engaged him, and often keeping them for many years until placing them with a collector he felt truly understood them.
Important Note: For essential information on the
Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger and provenance documentation please visit here: www.zacke.at/rubencollection_ledger
Condition: Good condition commensurate with age, expected wear, obvious losses, both legs reattached with associated cracks, another crack with touchups around the waist, repair to shoulders, few small chips, traces of prolonged burial, and remnants of pigments.
Weight: 2.9 kg (excl. stand), 3.3 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 59.5 cm (excl. stand), 62.5 cm (incl. stand)
With an associated modern stand. (2)
This so-called stickman is one of the many earthenware figures found in Han dynasty tombs (see literature comparison below), known as terracotta mingqi (funerary objects), which were believed to serve and protect the deceased in the afterlife.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related earthenware male figure, dated Western Han dynasty, 57.4 cm tall, in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, object number 1991.33. Compare a related earthenware male figure, dated Western Han dynasty, 59.5 cm tall, in the Shenzhen Museum, reference number 1789588651970416640.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's London, 26 April 2006, lot 2297
Price: GBP 2,160 or approx.
EUR 4,400 (for two) converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A pair of Chinese painted pottery stick figures, Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, form, and size (62.9 cm).
Buyer's Premium
30%
A PAINTED POTTERY 'STICK' FIGURINE, HAN DYNASTY
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve
The Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger, entry from 2005:
“No. 236, FH 1991, Chinese Han terracotta fig. of a man 0-200 AD”
Gallery price: EUR 1,980 or approx.
EUR 3,300 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing.
China, 206 BC-220 AD. The figure stands in a rigid posture with legs shoulder-width apart. The face features almond-shaped eyes below gently arched brows, a long nose, and slender lips, and the hair is styled into a topknot and accentuated in black. The elongated figure is dressed in a flaring tunic with red and black pigments.
Provenance: Freddy Hansen, Copenhagen, Denmark, by 1991. Jorgen Ruben, acquired from the above. In the Jorgen Ruben Collection for 35 years.
Freddy Hansen was a Danish dealer of Asian art and antiquities, particularly Buddhist sculpture. Based in Copenhagen, he was active from the 1950s onward and became one of Denmark's most prominent dealers in Asian art before his retirement in the early 1990s.
Jorgen Ruben is a Danish art dealer and collector who has been active for over four decades and is highly regarded in the fields of Asian art and classical antiquities. Raised in an art-conscious family, Ruben was exposed early to both modern painting and European decorative arts. He began working in the art trade in the mid-1970s, first with Persian rugs and later with antiques, while travels to Iran and a visit to Persepolis sparked his lasting interest in antiquity. After studies in Copenhagen and London, he worked in England with a dealer in early furniture, before travelling widely in Latin America and Asia, deepening his knowledge of regional art and culture. In 1984 Ruben opened a gallery in Copenhagen dealing in Asian antiquities. He was later active in London and, in the early 2000s, operated the Brussels gallery Classic Art. Much of his career, however, has been conducted privately from home, selling by appointment to collectors, galleries, and museums. Ruben has always bought selectively, choosing only works that deeply engaged him, and often keeping them for many years until placing them with a collector he felt truly understood them.
Important Note: For essential information on the
Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger and provenance documentation please visit here: www.zacke.at/rubencollection_ledger
Condition: Good condition commensurate with age, expected wear, obvious losses, both legs reattached with associated cracks, another crack with touchups around the waist, repair to shoulders, few small chips, traces of prolonged burial, and remnants of pigments.
Weight: 2.9 kg (excl. stand), 3.3 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 59.5 cm (excl. stand), 62.5 cm (incl. stand)
With an associated modern stand. (2)
This so-called stickman is one of the many earthenware figures found in Han dynasty tombs (see literature comparison below), known as terracotta mingqi (funerary objects), which were believed to serve and protect the deceased in the afterlife.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related earthenware male figure, dated Western Han dynasty, 57.4 cm tall, in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, object number 1991.33. Compare a related earthenware male figure, dated Western Han dynasty, 59.5 cm tall, in the Shenzhen Museum, reference number 1789588651970416640.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's London, 26 April 2006, lot 2297
Price: GBP 2,160 or approx.
EUR 4,400 (for two) converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A pair of Chinese painted pottery stick figures, Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, form, and size (62.9 cm).
Buyer's Premium
30%
