Ca. 202BC - 220AD.An ornate pottery goose standing on its stylised, well-defined bronze legs, which support a globular body and elegantly slender neck terminating in a red-coloured head with a beak and open, attentive eyes. The body is decorated with pigments, imitating the bird's natural plumage. Geese were a significant motif in Han dynasty-era poetry. They were typically distinguished between two types of geese, the domestic goose and the wild goose. The Han Dynasty, which ruled between 202 BC-220 AD, brought great prosperity and stability to China, reigning over a golden age of classical Chinese civilisation during which China saw major advances including the widespread development of a monetary economy and the invention of paper, as well as much progress in the decorative arts. 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:225mm / W:200mm ; 940gProvenance: East Anglian private collection; formerly acquired in the early 1990s in Hong Kong.