We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of NSW stands.

Title

Dancing demon

206 BCE-220 CE

Artists

Unknown Artist

Alternate image of Dancing demon by

  • Details

    Other Title
    Two exorcists
    Place where the work was made
    China
    Period
    Han dynasty 206 BCE - 220 CE → China
    Date
    206 BCE-220 CE
    Media category
    Ceramic
    Materials used
    earthenware
    Dimensions
    10.5 cm
    Credit
    Gift of Mr Sydney Cooper 1962
    Location
    Not on display
    Accession number
    EC11.1962
    Copyright

    Reproduction requests

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  • About

    This dancer (pair with EC12.1962), legs and arms raised as if in time to music, vividly captures the liveliness that must have pervaded Han cities. The figure is small, hand-modelled and unpainted, but immediate in its naturalism and apparent spontaneity.

    Jackie Menzies, 'Early Chinese Art', AGNSW, 1983. cat.no. I.

  • Places

    Where the work was made

    China

  • Exhibition history

    Shown in 2 exhibitions

  • Bibliography

    Referenced in 3 publications

    • Edmund Capon, The Australian Antique Collector, 'Chinese tomb figures in the Art Gallery of New South Wales', pg. 96-101, Chippendale, Jan 1981-Jun 1981, 97 (illus.). fig.no. 3

    • Mr V V W Fretwell, Mr L G Harrison, Ivan McMeekin and J. Hepburn Myrtle (Compilators), Chinese ceramics, Sydney, 1965, 18. cat.no. 8

    • Jackie Menzies, Early Chinese Art, Sydney, 1983, not paginated. cat.no. XI See 'Further Information' for text.