Ancient China, a handsome painted pottery horse, terracotta, measures: 55cm, 22 inches; high and 48cm, 19 inches in length and 20cm, 8 inches in width, Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE).

The large, vigorous, powerful, and joyful steed standing four square and with pricked ears, eyes, nose, cropped tail, slightly opened jaw with a smooth backside and legs restored and exhibiting traces of remnant vermilion and white poly chrome .

A Thermoluminescence test (TL test) certificate No. 21K300316 which accompanies this horse authenticates its genuine age from China’s Han dynasty.

Provenance: Old New York Collection acquired in the 1990s

History:
History indicates that the first domesticated horses originated in the Eurasion steppes about 4000 BCE and were known in China some one thousand years later. China’s ancient appetite for horses caused Han emperor Wudi to dispatch Zhang Qian to the Central Asian Kingdom of Ferghana (Persia) to seek larger and more powerful horses than the conventional Mongolian
pony. It was approximately at this time that Zhang described them as heavenly horses (tianma) and devine horses (shenma) thereby causing Wudi to dispatch General Li Guangli to secure a supply of these increasingly valuable assets. In opening up the silk road, east-west trading began in
earnest, and silk was offered for horses! By the Tang dynasty, large parts of Central Asia had been conquered, trading flourished, and exotic goods procurement including horse supply was ensured.