China – Part Of A Burial Chamber Lintel – Han Dynasty

Rare part of a terracotta lintel from a burial chamber of the Han Dynasty, depicting animated scenes with horseman, chariot, crane, groom. It could very likely have participated in forming the lintel above doors that separated the interior of a tomb into two rooms. Origin: China. Dimensions: Height: 10 cm; Length: 29.5 cm; Width: 18 cm. Period: Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220) Provenance: Belgian Private Collection of Dr. Vanderweerden This part of the lintel has a liveliness and a sense of movement that can be found on the reliefs of the Han tombs of Nanyang (Henan), an important economic center during the Eastern Han period (25-220). In its workmanship, the sarabande of animals is also close to comparable pieces found in Yongcheng and preserved in Zhengzhou at the Henan Provincial Museum. Since the last century, a large number of Eastern Han portrait bricks have been unearthed in the Chengdu Plain. This batch of portrait stones are now stored in the Chengdu Museum. They not only reproduce scenes of people's production and work, but also depict the market, dining, travel, singing and dancing and other scenes. They are regarded by experts as "encyclopedias of the study of Han Dynasty society", and also reflect the ancients' view of life and death that "death is like life, death is like existence". This is a deep-rooted concept of the ancients, and it is also an unbreakable principle, so in this small space, the world of the world at that time was hidden.