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A model lamp holder, Han Dynasty. Oxford Thermoluminescence…
Lot No.
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Description:
A model lamp holder, Han Dynasty. Oxford Thermoluminescence test number 666e67 is consistent with the dating of this object. Of grey pottery this article is shaped as an Armenian dwarf with a large-cheeked jolly face, wearing a tunic and peaked hat with a flaring back, kneeling on his left knee and clasping the column of the lamp holder with both hands. Under the brownish residue of a white slip, his tunic is decorated with a series of faded black triangles, squiggles, and slashes, as well as his eyebrows and beard. There are a number of broad decorative scarlet slashes to the dwarf and the stand. Pale brown has been used on the top of the lampstand. The top of the column supports a shallow oil reservoir in which, presumably, the wick would have floated. The model is hollow the appears to have been coloured inside with an orange-brown pigment. The potter's finger-marks can be seen on the inside, and on the base can be seen the conical hole where the drilled sample for dating has been made. Compare a similar oil lamp shown in plated 177 of spirit of Han, Southeast Asian ceramic Society,1991. Provenance: The Dr. Francis De Hamel collection, height 20 cm, width 16 cm
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Unclassified