Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

Lot 207TP

A LARGE GREEN-GLAZED POTTERY MODEL OF A WATCHTOWER
Han Dynasty

29 October – 7 November 2025, 12:00 GMT
Online, London, New Bond Street

Sold for £10,240 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

A LARGE GREEN-GLAZED POTTERY MODEL OF A WATCHTOWER

Han Dynasty
The moat formed as a wide-rimmed basin with two geese sitting on the rim, and a further goose, frog and tortoises to the interior, the main structure raised on a square section foot, with each face with pierced rectangular panels, supporting a box-like room with pierced lattice windows on three sides, connected upwards by four bear-form columns, to an overhanging rim rim forming a balcony, the front edge of which sits three musicians, the upper section comprising a two-tiered pagoda roof with a balcony between on which are strategically placed two cross bows at either end, applied overall with a rich green lead glaze. 117cm (46in) high. (2).

Footnotes

Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價

漢 鉛綠釉陶塔

Provenance:
Acquired in Hong Kong, 16 April 1996

來源:
獲得於香港,1996年4月16日

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no.C200d23, dated 20 October 2000, is consistent with the dating of this lot.

本拍品經牛津熱釋光檢測,編號C200d23(2000年10月20日),結果與其斷代相符


Pottery models of watchtowers such as this are among the most distinctive forms of Han dynasty funerary wares, often exhibiting notable regional variations; this example originates from Henan Province. See a similar green-glazed tower, Eastern Han dynasty, in the Henan Provincial Museum, illustrated by Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, Early Wares: Prehistory to Tenth Century, Taipei, 1991, p.128.

In contrast to Tang dynasty tomb figures, which frequently emphasised status and display, Han funerary models possess a more immediate, domestic quality. They suggest that the afterlife was conceived as a direct continuation of everyday life, requiring the same furnishings and animals as the deceased enjoyed in life: pigs, dogs, chickens, goats, farm buildings, and, as here, watchtowers. These large watchtowers, though typically shown with defensive features, likely represent more than purely military structures, reflecting instead multi-storey fortified dwellings characteristic of the Han period. Compare also with another green-glazed 'watchtower', Han dynasty, illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art: Chinese Ceramics, vol.I, Hong Kong, 1993, no.31.

See a green-glazed red pottery model of a watchtower, Han dynasty, which was sold at Bonhams New York, 17 March 2025, lot 81.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

A pair of celadon saucer dishes with Jingwei tang zhi hall marks 18th/19th century

TRÈS RARE ET BELLE ASSIETTE EN LAQUE SCULPTÉE Marque et époque Jiajing (1522-1566)