Han Dynasty, 206 BC-220 AD. An important lead-glazed ceramic multi-part watchtower model, set in a bowl representing a surrounding moat; the openwork tower standing on stilts with two terraced levels with separately made military personnel, one with an aimed bow; the moat with applied turtles, fish and frogs. See National Gallery of Australia, accession number NGA 2002.374.A-C; see also Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession number 98.69a,b, for similar but with one level; see also The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1984.397a, b, for a watchtower without a moat. 20.9 kg total, 93cm (36 1/2"). This was the centrepiece of the celebrated collection of art formed by the famous anthropologist, artist and television presenter Desmond Morris; sold by private treaty in 2018; formerly in a West Country collection in the 1990s; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10169-166777. In Imperial China, powerful images from the human and spirit world were created as funerary goods (mingqi), such as this architectural model of a watchtower which was made to accompany the deceased in their afterlife. The models were miniature versions of buildings that the deceased would have been familiar with during his life and would also contain a number of clay objects formed as animals, grain silos, stoves, textiles, cosmetic kits, combs and anything that would have made the deceased comfortable in his afterlife. This model is similar to the watchtowers erected along the Great Wall during the same period. [a video of this item will be available on Timeline Auctions website.]