Ca. 202BC - 220AD An earthenware rooster with many traces of the original polychromy. The colourful bird is standing on its original bronze legs. Rendered in an alert, standing pose with an erect neck, the animal looks straight ahead with delineated wings folded to its abdomen with stylized feathers and presents an overall bold silhouette. This rooster is mingqi, 'spirit goods' belonging to the burial rituals in the Chinese Han Dynasty.H.C. Clydesdale, "The Vibrant Role of Mingqi in Early Chinese Burials", Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2000.This piece has been precisely dated by means of a Thermo Luminescence analysis carried out by Ralf Kotalla, an independent German Laboratory. The samples collected date the piece to the period reflected in its style, whilst also showing no modern trace elements. The TL certificate with its full report will accompany this lot. Size: L:140mm / W:147mm ; 320g Provenance: East Anglian private collection; formerly acquired in the early 1990s in Hong Kong.