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Figure of a male attendant
- loan
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Details
- Associated place
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Asia › China › Shaanxi province (place of creation)
- Date
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2nd century BC (200 - 101 BC)
Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 9)
- Material and technique
- earthenware, moulded and luted together, painted white, and with traces of pigment
- Dimensions
- 55 x 15 x 11.2 cm (height x width x depth)
- Material index
- Technique index
- Object type index
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Lent by the Sir Alan Barlow Collection Trust.
- Accession no.
- LI1301.423
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Further reading
University of Sussex, and Arts and Humanities Research Council, The Barlow Collection, supervised by Regina Krahl, Maurice Howard, and Aiden Leeves (Sussex: University of Sussex, 2006), no. S28
Glossary (2)
earthenware, luted
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earthenware
Ceramic material made of clay which is fired to a temperature of c.1000-1200⁰c. The resulting ceramic is non-vitreous and varies in colour from dark red to yellow.
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luted
The fusion of parts of ceramics using dilute clay slip.
Location
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- currently in research collection
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Publications online
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The Barlow Collection
A very similar figure was discovered in a storage pit at the mausoleum of Emperor Han Wendi (r.180-157 BC), which is associated with his wife, Empress Dou, who died in 135 BC. It is now preserved in the Shaanxi History Museum.
The figure is solidly modelled and very heavy. It depicts a male attendant, standing very straight, his hands cupped as if grasping a staff or sword, placed one above the other. The face has even features, the hair is combed back and tied in a knot. He is wearing a coat with long, wide sleeves, crossed in front and reaching down over the knees, over an undergarment with padded collar and bulging trousers, the shoes being simply indicated. The sleeves are pushed back to reveal the hands, forming thick folds. The grey pottery body is covered with a white dressing, with few traces of a flesh-coloured pigment remaining on the face.
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