Chinese Han Dynasty Altar w/ Tilt Hammer & Bird

**Originally Listed At $700**

East Asia, China, Han Dynasty, ca. 206 BCE to 220 CE. A pottery model of a building structure with 4 thick pillars, roof, and floor with a bird and tools. The tools are trip / tilt hammers for pounding grain (also used for pounding other raw materials such as incense or clay). It is possible this also represents and/or served as an altar table. Pottery models of all sorts of objects were placed in tombs - including buildings, animals, tools, and even food. This ancient farming equipment would help provide for the soul in the afterlife and may have represented aspects of the person's life or what they hoped to achieve in the afterlife. Size: 14.75" L x 6" W x 8" H (37.5 cm x 15.2 cm x 20.3 cm)

Provenance: private Constance McCormick Fearing estate, Montecito, California, USA, acquired before 2004

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#180981
Condition Report: Repaired and restored from new material. Restoration to bird, and pillar legs. Loss to upper corner of roof / table top. Chips and losses to surface layers on the bird. Mineral and earthen deposits on the surfaces.