China, 202 BC to 220 AD. Realistically modeled standing foursquare with head facing forward, with large floppy ears, thin wavy tail and low, full belly modeled with nipples, covered overall in black pigment with brown speckles over white priming.

Provenance: Estate of Sir Victor Sassoon (according to a handwritten note on the accompanying catalog page from Christie’s). Christie’s New York, Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 16 September 1998, lot 319. Estates of William R. Appleby (1915-2007) and Elinor Appleby (1920-2020), acquired from the above. Sir Ellice Victor Sassoon, 3rd Baronet, GBE (1881-1961) was a businessman and hotelier from the Baghdadi Jewish Sassoon merchant and banking family. In the 1920s he spent much time in Shanghai and began collecting Chinese works of art, his vast collection of ivory carvings being of particularly high significance. His hotel in Shanghai, The Cathay, was a mainstay of Hollywood celebrities, and he counted among his personal friends Charlie Chaplin, Laurence Olivier, and Marlene Dietrich. William and Elinor Appleby were longtime donors to the Asian Department at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A copy of the original, stamped, and signed invoice, dated 16 September 1998 and stating a purchase price of USD 24,897 (today approximately USD 40,792 after inflation), accompanies this lot, along with copies of three old catalog pages: one for the present lot as offered by Christie’s on 16 September 1998, with a handwritten note, ‘From: Est. of Sir Victor Sassoon, B.T., G.B.E. and Lady Sassoon!’; and two for comparable Han-dynasty pottery pigs offered at auction.
Condition: Overall very good condition and absolutely commensurate with age. Some repair and touchups as generally expected from Han dynasty excavations. Some of the black pigment and brown speckles with old touchups, some of the white priming underneath visible due to ongoing pigment flaking. Losses, fissures, and encrustations. Extensive wear to pigments. Drilled holes from sample-taking.
Scientific analysis report: A thermoluminescence report issued by Oxford Authentication on 29 May 1998, based on sample no. C198m26, sets the firing date of both samples taken at 1500 – 2400 years ago and is consistent with the dating of this lot. A signed and stamped copy of the report, issued by Oxford Authentication, accompanies this lot.

Weight: 23 kg
Dimensions: Length 65 cm, Height 31 cm

Figures of pigs are quite well known among Han dynasty mingqi. However, pigs of this exceptional size and verisimilitude are not, indicating this pregnant sow was placed in the tomb of a person of particularly high status.

Literature comparison: A smaller version from the Jingguantang Collection was included in the exhibition, Art Treasures from Shanghai and Hong Kong, University of Hong Kong Art Gallery, November 1996 - January 1997, p. 82, no. 14. A pair of pregnant pottery pigs (each 44 cm long) were excavated from the attendant pits of the Yangling Mausoleum of the Han Emperor Jingdi and illustrated in line drawings in Wenwu 1994:6, p. 14, fig. 19.1. An excavated example of smaller size from tomb no. 2 at Hejiashan, Mianyang city is illustrated in Wenwu 1991:3, p. 11, fig. 8. Compare a related but smaller (46 cm long) painted pottery sow, dated to the Western Han dynasty, excavated from the East Side Pit of the Yangling Mausoleum in 2002, lent to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and exhibited in Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties (221 B.C.–A.D. 200) between 3 April and 16 July 2017.

Auction result comparison: Compare a related but much smaller (45.8 cm long) and later (dated to the Six Dynasties, 220-589 AD) painted pottery figure of a sow at Christie’s New York in Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art on 15 September 2011, lot 1441, sold for USD 22,500.

漢代罕見黑彩灰陶孕母豬
中國，公元前202 年至公元 220年。逼真地塑造了四足着地的孕母豬，頭部朝前，大而軟的耳朵，細長的波浪形尾巴和下垂且圓鼓鼓的腹部，可見肚皮上的乳頭。整體覆蓋黑色顏料，白色底有棕色斑點。

來源：Victor Sassoon 爵士收藏 (根據佳士得隨附目錄頁上的手寫筆記)；紐約佳士得Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art1998 年 9 月 16 日lot 319；William R. Appleby (1915-2007) 與Elinor Appleby (1920-2020) 收藏，購於上述拍賣。 Ellice Victor Sassoon(1881-1961)爵士，第三代男爵，曾是商人與酒店經營商，來自巴格達迪沙遜猶太商人和銀行家族。1920年代，他在上海逗留了很長時間，開始收藏中國藝術品，其中包括大量具有特別意義的象牙雕刻品。他在上海的酒店國泰是好萊塢名人的主要去處。查理卓別林、Laurence Olivier和Marlene Dietrich都是他的朋友。 William 和 Elinor Appleby 是紐約大都會藝術博物館亞洲部的長期捐助者。此拍品隨附一份蓋章並簽名的發票原件副本，日期為 1998 年 9 月 16 日，標明購買價格為 24,897 美元（通貨膨脹後今天約為 40,792 美元），以及三份舊目錄頁的副本：一份為現在佳士得於 1998 年 9 月 16 日提供的拍品，附有手寫筆記，“來自：Est。維克多·沙遜爵士 (B.T., G.B.E.)和沙遜夫人！’；兩件用於拍賣的類似漢代陶豬。

品相：總體狀況極好，絕對與年齡相稱，帶有漢代考古發掘中普遍預期的一些修復和修飾。一些黑色顏料和棕色斑點帶有舊時修飾，由於顏料剝落，下面的一些白色底漆可見。缺損、裂縫和結殼。顔料大面積磨損。 取樣時留下的鑽孔。
科學檢測報告：1998年5月29日牛津檢測所出具的熱釋光報告，取樣號 C198m26，結論為1500至2400年前製造。隨附一份簽名并蓋章的報告的副本。

重量：23 公斤
尺寸：長 65 厘米, 高 31 厘米

拍賣結果比較：一件相近但稍小 (長45.8 厘米) ，六朝（220-589 年)彩繪陶母豬，見紐約佳士得 Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art 2011年9月15日 lot 1441, 售價USD 22,500。