Chinese Ancient Hand Carved Unicorn

China, a monumental pair (2) of 500 year old lime stone “Spirit Path” Equine horse head sculptures. Ming dynasty, (1368-1644 CE). Please view our video. A pair of near life size and robust head sections with fine, wavy combed manes, well defined mouths, ears, nostrils, and ornamental bridles, all carved in a medium to dark gray limestone with considerable weathering to surfaces. The smaller head with a later inscription on bottom and signed “Zhuang”. Formerly exhibited “Treasures from Asia”, Shelburne Vermont, Shelburne Art Center, 2006. Originally found in the vicinity of the village of Chuan near Luoyang City, Henan Provance, China. Each mounted on a custom iron display stand. Dimensions: A the smaller 32.5cm, 13” high and 62.5cm, 25” in length and with display stand, 60cm, 24” high; b the larger 37.5cm, 15” high and 67.5cm, 27” in length and with display stand 65cm, 26” high. Please view additional photographs from our Chinese antiquities catalog 35 Years Collecting 35 Treasures, page 60. History: Placing stone animals and human figures along spirit paths in front of important tombs can be traced back at least to the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), some two thousand years ago. In ancient times, stone animals and human figures placed before imperial tombs symbolized royal power and privilege in addition to decorative functions. Life size “spirit path” stone horse sculptures are known and can be viewed from Ming dynasty tombs including thirteen imperial tombs of the Ming Dynasty scattered over an area of forty square kilometers in Changping District to the northwest of Beijing. The first Ming tomb...

Our 34 inch tall Chinese Caishen's name is often invoked during Chinese celebrations! This is a large and unusual antique hand carved limestone Wealth God Caishen- coming from an old New England collection Hand Made and Hand Carved Measurements: 34 inches high and 15 inches wide, Period: late Qing dynasty, late 19th-early 20th century. This god grasps a silver sycee (an ancient form of silver wealth). Provenance: Coming from an old New England collection and originally acquired from a Shanghai private collection decades ago. History of China's Wealth God Caishen: Caishen's name is often invoked during the Chinese New Year celebrations! Caishen (simplified Chinese: 财神; traditional Chinese: 財神; literally: "God of Wealth") is the Chinese god...

China, a fine archaic human effigy hand-carved from a granular medium to dark gray volcanic stone with six (6) "V" sections carved front. Neolithic period, Hongshan culture...

China an ancient limestone figure of an Entertainer replete with hands holding tambourines and a top a drum, -for the afterlife- , Han dynasty 206 BC...

This hand carved Chinese wooden horse is a type of centuries-old burial figurine known as míngqì. Depicting the pleasures of daily life, míngqì f...

Exceedingly rare Chinese pottery caparisoned horse from the Northern Qi region. A beautiful sculptural piece, created in China during the Northern Qi dynasty period, between the 549 and 577 AD. This horse statue is extremely finely modeled of earthenware pottery, standing in a very elegant and majestic position striding on a trapezoidal shaped base. The animal has a gracefully arched neck to the left and its extremely well modeled. The head is adorned with a large detailed tassels of plumes and the body is embellished with a beautiful saddle and intricate harnesses. The trapping around the chest and rump is adorned with elaborated tassels and the straps are accented with multiples florets and bosses in high relief. The surface is treated with applications of natural pigments such; red, white and others. Has a measurements of 394 mm by 343 mm by 257 mm (15.53 x 13.52 x 10.15 Inches) (39.4 x 34.3 x 25.7 Cm). Northern Qi, was the successor state of the Chinese Xianbei state of Eastern Wei...

A standing horse, back legs slightly apart and bent, tail erect, wearing a saddle with saddlecloth, and with bridal ornaments on forelock. This horse represents a breed from the Mong...

Animal bronze horse Asia (?). The dimensions are 16 cm high, 23 cm wide and 7 cm deep estimated time late XIX th. Additional information: Material: Bro...