Standing figure

myminifactory

This small, finely detailed statue stands with arms outstretched. His curling fingers form a socket that would have held the shaft of an oil lamp. The figure wears a long tunic cinched at the waist by a simple belt secured by a belt buckle. The hem, sleeves, shoulders, and lapels of the garment have been adorned with intricate gold line patterns and cast with ornate border motifs. His hair is carefully styled and partially concealed by a close-fitting headdress featuring a double-lobed crest in the center. Human statues in bronze were scarce throughout the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties (1600–771 BCE), but several bronze statues that served as lamp posts have now been unearthed from Warring States–period tombs of the late Zhou era. The robust, sculptural quality of this statue foreshadows the naturalism encountered in the succeeding Qin (221–206 BCE) and Western Han (206 BCE–25 CE) eras.