Expert's note:
The present lot is the largest Han-dynasty pottery horse of this monumental scale currently recorded, surpassing in size the well-known green-glazed example in the Princeton University Art Museum (see Literature comparison), and ex aequo with an example sold at Christie's New York on 16 September 1998, lot 295, height 156 cm (see Auction result comparison).

Scientific Analysis Reports: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 6 January 2026, based on sample number C125s60, sets the firing date of all three samples taken between 1500 and 2400 years ago, consistent with the dating above. A copy of the report accompanies this lot.

China, 206 BC-220 AD. Impressively modeled striding proudly forward on well-formed legs, with head raised and ears alertly pricked, the lips of the prominent muzzle open wide exposing large teeth, with chevron eyebrows over prominent eyes, short bound tail, the saddle blanket lifting slightly at the corners.

Provenance: Weisbrod Chinese Art, New York, acquired from the above. Michael B. Weisbrod is a noted scholar of Chinese art, who has published extensively on the subject over a time span of more than 50 years. In 1972, Michael joined his father Dr. Gerald Weisbrod's Asian art gallery in Toronto, Canada. The father-and-son team opened their New York location on Madison Avenue in 1977, and during the next 45 years the gallery held a significant number of exhibitions, selling to museums and private collectors across the globe, eventually adding further locations in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Condition: Superb condition, fully commensurate with age. Expected wear is present, together with signs of weathering and erosion consistent with prolonged burial. There is no clear indication of modern repairs, even under extremely strong blue light; although such interventions must remain a distant possibility, any potential areas of filling, should they exist, could equally be inherent to the manufacturing process rather than later intervention. Also note that all three TL test samples provided the same result, further reducing the possibility of modern fills being present. Such an exceptional state of preservation is virtually unheard of and exceedingly rare among excavated Han-dynasty pottery figures. Small holes from sample-taking are present and now filled.

Dimensions: Height circa 156 cm, Length circa 132 cm, maximum diagonal extent circa 200 cm

This spectacularly large animal epitomizes the Han delight in horses. To combat the Xiongnu tribes on China's northern borders, the Han emperor Wudi brought some of the renowned tianma (heavenly horses) from the Ferghana area of Central Asia. These powerful horses were a favorite theme in Han art, whether in paintings, stone sculpture, bronzes such as the 'flying horse' of Gansu, or in ceramics. The horse had long been revered for its military importance and majestic beauty, and, as an allegory of wealth and the aristocracy, it featured in the tombs of all high-ranking individuals.

Extremely large prancing horses like the present lot bear relation to the famous group of large bronze 'flying horses' excavated in Gansu in 1969, see W. Watson, The Genius of China, London, 1973, Catalogue no. 222, where it is stated that this breed of tall horse was introduced from Central Asia at the beginning of the first century BC.

Literature comparison:
Horses, although not of this size, have been found a number of tombs within the Han empire. Among the most famous are those from the graves of the well-known Han dynasty minister Zhou Bo and his son excavated at Yangjiawan, Xianyang, Shaanxi province, see Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Quest for Eternity, Thames and Hudson, 1987, Catalogue, nos. 11-15. A large prancing horse was excavated from a rock-face tomb at Majiashan, Xinduxian, Sichuan province, see Wenwu ziliao congkan, 1985, No. 9, pl. vi-5. In addition to the well-sculpted head, flaring nostrils and upwardly-curling top lip characteristic of these Han horses, typified by the large bronze horse excavated at Hejiashan, Jinyang, Sichuan province and recorded in Wenwu, 1991, no. 3, p. 9, pl. iii, the current example has emphatically defined hindquarters. A similar definition of the hindquarters can be seen on many of the lacquered horses found in a Western Han tomb at Shuangbaoshan, Yongxing, Mianyan, Sichuan province, see Wenwu, 1996, no. 10, p. 20, fig. 18, no. 2. A similarly rendered Eastern Han pottery horse, but covered in a green glaze and of slightly smaller size (139.7 cm. high), is in the collection of the Princeton University Art Museum, accession number 1997-32, where it is described as “among the largest examples of its kind found to date.”

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's New York, 16 September 1998, lot 295
Price: USD 145,500 or approx. EUR 248,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A massive Sichuan gray pottery figure of a striding horse, Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and size (156 cm).