**Originally Listed At $400**

East Asia, China, Han Dynasty, ca. 206 BCE to 220 CE. A pair of pottery funerary mingqi figures - a rabbit and a man. The man stands upright wearing pants - his arms outstretched before him in a dynamic pose to represent an acrobat, an entertainer for the afterlife. The recumbent rabbit is surmounted upon a vertical stand, and may have been part of a scene or zodiac collection. The rabbit is an earth sign from the Chinese zodiac and plays a prominent role in Chinese mythology and considered to be the luckiest of the 12 animals. Size of acrobat: 2.5" L x 2" W x 6" H (6.4 cm x 5.1 cm x 15.2 cm)

The Han Dynasty was a period of wealth and stability for China, and the burial places of their rulers reflected this prosperity. Inside of burial mounds, hundreds and sometimes thousands of figures were placed, recreating the daily life of the Emperor's court or a noble person's world. The creation of all these pottery figures spawned a huge industry and the remains of workshops have also been found near burial mounds.

Provenance: private Vero Beach, Florida, USA collection, acquired before 2003

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#177668

Both are repaired. Rabbit front limbs are reattached and losses to legs as shown. Acrobat is repaired- head, arms, and right foot are reattached. Surface loses and hairline fissures. Nice remains of pigments on both.