(206BCE-220CE) The Han Period saw major developments: civil service and government structure was organized; paper, water clocks, seismographs and sundials measuring time were invented; music descriptions were compiled, histories, poetry and other important books were written, and lacquerware and woven silk were created. During the Han Dynasty, mingqi, or burial earthenware ceramics were used to be placed in tombs to serve the deceased.
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Used for rituals and ceremonies, lead green glazed earthenware wing cups were popular burial objects. The tomb’s humidity caused the lead to oxidize to a lustrous, prized iridescent, silver-green.
This diminutive mingqi pig is totally charming and fanciful with an iridescent glaze and would be especially appealing as a send off for the deceased to the nether world or in a contemporary setting. Pigs were especially prized and images were often included as items the deceased would need to live comfortably in the after life.
Han dynasty dagger-axes (ge) like this were ancient military weapons.The dagger-shaped blade was mounted to a pole or shaft and secured using a shank and the holes on the two sections of its body. Their use ended with the advent of chariots and tightly packed military formations. He piece comes with a uniquely fashioned box.
In the Han, belt hooks became a symbol of wealth, high status and power hung vertically from belt holes used in life and buried with the deceased for his journey to the afterlife . Ornamented with incised decoration this beautiful piece is dragon shaped with beautiful verdigris deposits.
Families placed cocoon jars with auspicious designs containing magical mixtures of mulberry leaves in tombs for departed’s souls to drink to transform in afterlife.
Hu vessels, first made in the Shang Dynasty is an ancient-pottery wine vessel whose body swells in the middle, flares into a narrow neck and often has a raised circular foot. Very popular during the Han dynasty, it was used as an ancestral tomb burial object (mingqi) to hold liquids and elixirs for the deceased…
This ancient bronze ge dagger-axe is a true glimpse of the changes in military history and would be a great addition to a collection of weapons throughout the ages. Widely produced and used in the Han it virtually disappeared after introduction of chariots and tightly military formations.
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