Ancient China Monumental Stone Ram Han Dynasty, 206BC-220AD

Dimensions: 45cm, 18 inches high and 65cm, 26 inches length and 25cm, 10 inches wide

A strongly conceived and robust carving with incised angular head and pursed mouth, clipped ears and unobtrusive tail, the whole standing four square and carved in a light gray lime stone with weathering to the surface from burial appropriate to its age.

Formerly exhibited “Asia Week” New York City, Fuller Building, Neuhof Gallery, 2005.

Originally found in the vicinity of Luoyang City, Henan Province, China.

Early Chinese animals carved in small-scale in stone for tomb burial or display are rare. During early Chinese periods hundreds of thousands of pottery models were created and were significantly easier and less costly to manufacture in pottery than stone. Stone representations were crafted for mausoleums throughout the Empire and larger scale stone examples could also be found along spirit paths leading up to important tombs.

The goods left buried inside tombs were made to accompany the deceased and provide them—symbolically yet realistically—with familiar pleasures that would have been enjoyed in life. Today a few of these sculptures are displayed in museums as works of art.

The Han dynasty, considered to be one of China’s longest and most powerful dynasties, began in 206 BCE when Liu Bang became emperor. He established a strong centralized bureaucracy which served as a model for China’s imperial rule until the early twentieth century. The favored religion of the Han dynasty was Confucianism as it promoted a social and political framework for a centralized government with an emphasis on loyalty to the emperor.

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