CHINESE HAN DYNASTY TERRACOTTA GOOSE ON BRONZE LEGS - TL TESTED

Ca. 202 BC - 220 AD. A rare and ornate pottery goose. The bird is standing on its stylised, well-defined bronze legs which support a globular body and elegantly slender neck terminating in a black-coloured head with a red beak and open, attentive eyes. The body is decorated with polychrome plumage. Geese were a major motif in Han dynasty era poetry and were typically distinguished between two types of geese, the domestic goose, and the wild goose. This piece has been precisely dated by means of a Thermo Luminescence analysis carried out by Ralf Kotalla, an independent German Laboratory. The samples collected date the piece to the period reflected in its style, whilst also showing no modern trace elements. The TL certificate with its full report will accompany this lot. Size: L:270mm / W:205mm ; 885g Provenance: From the private collection of a Somerset gentleman; previously in an old British collection, formed in the 1980s on the UK /European art markets.