IMPORTANT Bronze Horse & Rider Statue Han Dy AUTHENTIC Similar to LeiTai Tomb bronzes. 28x21in. SUPERB RARE Start Price USD 30,000.00 Current Price USD 30,000.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Saturday, November 01, 2008 End Time Wednesday, December 31, 2008 Location Melbourne, Florida See more about 'IMPORTANT Bronze Horse & Rider Statue Han Dy AUTHENTIC' Description IMPORTANT Bronze Horse & Rider Statue Han Dy AUTHENTIC  THE VIERA GALLERY is pleased to offer a BRONZE HAN DY. HORSE & RIDER STATUE Very Rare   Absolutely Authentic An important bronze statue of a horse with rider from the late Han Dy. Composed of four pieces -- horse, rider, saddle, halberd.  Each is cast as a complete piece, not in sections and joined together.  Excellent condition.  Similar to bronzes found at LeiTai Tomb site in Wuwei, Gansu Prov. Offered for your consideration is a bronze cavalry statue that led the deceased funeral procession on the Spirit Road. The horse and rider are hollow and cast as one piece, a much more difficult process than assembling smaller components.  Pieces may have been originally painted.  The dark brown seen in the pictures is the bronze body, not paint.  While normal bronze corrosion is present, the original dark colored bronze is quite evident. Beneath the dark brown the metal is a bright, shining gold color.  Piece has not been cleaned.  Dirt from burial is present especially inside the horse and rider and inside the horse hooves. The statue is composed of four elements: Horse:  The horse is vibrant, active and majestic.  All details are present -- erect ears, muscular flanks and a waving forelock as found on many Han Dy. horses.  Bridle and reins may have been originally present judging by the shape of the mouth and the hole in the rider's right hand.  Two small corrosion holes at back of neck and two small holes on left rear hoof.  Otherwise, solid, complete and undamaged.  Dimensions:  19.5 in high x 20.75 long x 5.5 wide/ 49.5 x 53.5 x 14 cm.   9 lb 2 oz/ 4140 gm. Rider:  The cavalryman wears a flat-topper hat and decorated straps cross the torso.  Lower arms are extended to carry the halberd and hold the reins in holes cast in the piece.  Facial details and hair are masterfully done.  Legs appear to be covered in a type of legging. Underlying bronze quite evident on the back of the rider. One small chink on the top of inside of one leg appears to be from casting and not from corrosion.  No damage of any kind.  Dimensions:  15.75 in long x 7.25 wide/ 40 x 18 cm.  4 lb 1 oz/ 1845 gm. Saddle:  The saddle is U-shaped with two vertical edges.  The rear edge is higher than the front.  A small chink on one edge is a casting artifact.  6 small pinholes that do not affect strength or integrity.  Dimensions:  4.5 x 4 in/ 11.5 x 10 cm.  9 oz/ 250 gm. Halberd:  The rider carries a long spear-like weapon with a halberd tip.  The halberd fits tightly into a hole in the rider's left hand.  Dimensions: 15.25 in/ 39 cm. long.  4 oz/ 110 gm. Assembled dimensions:  28 in high x 20.75 long x 7.25 wide/ 71 x 53.5 x 18 cm.  14 lb/ 6340 gm. Provenance:  Item was purchased on eBay from a dealer in Shanghai.  The dealer no longer sells on eBay.  The entire description and a photo from the listing follows: You can see this a East Han(A.D25-220) Bronze cavalry sculpture ,the sculpture was made in the end of the East Han(A.D25-220) dynasty ,It is one member of the Bronze cavalry sculpture team ,which was found in Wei Wu Lei Tai of Gansu province of China in the 1969 year , there were 17 cavalries sculpture all of the team ,you can see the cavalry was made reality , who has riding habit ,sitting on the horse ,there is a saddle which was can removed was fixed on the horse ,and it was in my personal collection for 34 years old ,you can see there were beautiful designs was made on its body ,which means rich and power in the old time , and the dragon was the totem of the chinese ,and the horse means success ,from that you can see the old chinese culture of the thousands of years old, if you won it and it will bring lucky for you ! so wonderful item . please don't miss it ! Adding information of the Museum record Below ! Origin: GanSu , China. Period: East Han(A.D25-220) dynasty.Height: 34 inch Width: 22 inch Thickness: 6.5 inch. Unfortunately, the seller did not include the "museum record" mentioned.  Attempts to secure additional information after the sale were not productive.  The stated dimensions are incorrect. A photo of a horse and rider and chariot from LeiTai in the Gansu Provincial Museum is included for comparison.  It is clear the offered statue differs from the LeiTai bronzes.  Compared to our statue, the LeiTai horse's legs are thinner, the tail is lower, the forelock crest is smaller, the musculature and posture are different.  The rider's legs are narrower, the halberd blade is different and the rider's hat is rounded not flat. The conclusion is the offered item is a Han Dynasty funerary cavalry statue but NOT from LeiTai. It is important to note Southeby's 2002 sale of the Ellsworth collection of ancient Chinese artifacts included a bronze horse and chariot similar to those from LeiTai.  As reported in the New York Times, March 15, 2002: The most spectacular piece in his sale is an Eastern Han dynasty bronze chariot sculpture from the first century, estimated at $750,000 to $1 million. At 15 1/2 inches tall and 23 inches long, the chariot and its horses was part of the tomb furnishings of a general. It is not known where it was excavated. The sculpture is part of an honor guard in a procession on the spirit road. Two horses stand in front of an umbrella-shaded chariot...Both horses stand on tapered legs, with flared hooves, muscular necks and well-modeled flanks.  A flamelike forelock shoots up between the pricked ears of each, and each has a long, cocked tail. Mr. Joe-Hynn Yang, the director of Sotheby's Chinese department in New York, said the horses were cast as single pieces except for the tails and forelocks, which were added. Casting such large pieces is a tour de force. ''Anytime bronzes were made with separate casts they are less important than a single cast,'' said Joel Frankel, president of E & J Frankel. These horses are highly animated. They are neighing, eager to be off. Mr. Yang said that such ancient Chinese bronze horses with carriages were extremely rare. ''Ellsworth's is the only grouping in private hands,'' he said.  Mr. Ellsworth said: ''As far as I know, my set is the only example that is so complete.'' A closely related horse-and-carriage sculpture was discovered in an Eastern Han dynasty tomb in Leitai, Gansu Province, in 1969 and now belongs to the Gansu Provincial Museum in Lanzhou, China. Thus, other late Han tombs employed similar bronze tomb furnishings.  While not from the LeiTai site as the original seller claimed, it is, nevertheless, a rare and important artifact from ancient China.  There cannot be many such pieces in private hands.  Sources: http://www.cultural-china.com/chinaWH/html/en/35History2043.html; https://www.metmuseum.org/special/China/s1_obj_2.R.asp; http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E6D81039F936A25750C0A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all We are offering this rare item at a price substantially below gallery or auction price primarily because we realize we cannot provide a full and authenticated provenance.  However, the following features we believe demonstrate the piece is authentic and not a reproduction: Corrosion/Patina: Corrosion is uneven.  Some areas are not corroded at all.  There is corrosion inside the hollow horse and rider.  The corrosion has texture and dimension.  It has a flakey, rough appearance under a hand lens. It is not flat and even. Absolutely not painted on. Corrosion holes:  The small holes in the left rear horse leg have ragged edges.  The metal tapers and thins toward the hole.  The metal is rather weak around the hole.  It is not evident to us how such a hole could be reproduced. Casting:  No seam lines from a mould.  Casting is not perfect.  A small defect in the side of the horse under the saddle has been patched with a small bronze plug. The plug has the same corrosion level as the surrounding metal.  Perhaps a corrective fix made right after casting. Dirt:  While any piece can be made dirty to look old, such dirt generally rubs off easily.  The dirt on this piece is like concrete.  Hard, patchy, bumpy and only comes off by forceful prying.  Dirt has same constitution inside the hollow bodies. We offer to send to the serious potential buyer at our expense the halberd and saddle for personal inspection.  We will also pay for return postage.  We do request a good faith payment of $100 USD to guarantee the return of the parts. This will be refunded upon safe return of the pieces. FREE shipping and insurance worldwide.  Item will be professionally packed and shipped by the buyer's preferred method. We welcome serious offers and inquiries.  Paypal account and favorable rating required.  THE VIERA GALLERY emphasizes Asian Antiques and Works on Paper for the adventurous collector.  We only offer items that meet our high standards of condition, quality and craftsmanship.  Your satisfaction is paramount to us.   Stands not included unless otherwise stated.     On Nov-24-08 at 18:27:26 PST, seller added the following information: Click to open supersize image Click to open supersize image Click to open supersize image Click to open supersize image Click to open supersize image Click to open supersize image Place a Bid!