Horse painted in lozenges

Description Horses of this type consisted partly of perishable elements, in particular wooden legs inserted into holes at the base of the piece. Two holes at the top of the head and one at the bottom of the rump housed the ears and tail of the animal respectively; a larger hole on the back was used to secure the figure of the rider with a tenon. The horse has the large neck and elongated snout typical of horses’ depictions from the Han dynasty. The surface is covered with brown paint on which other pigments are cold spread. The distinctive feature of this example is the oval saddle from which lozenge-shaped ornaments hang radially.