1-233-405 - The Museum of East Asian Art/Heritage Images

Painted pottery lamp in the form of a tortoise, Western Han dynasty, China, late 2nd-1st century BC. A painted grey pottery tortoise lamp, the carapace covered by circular pimples in low relief, each with a central boss. The back has a central pillar surmounted by a circular tray. The grey pottery is covered by a white slip and the carapace is over-painted with lilac blue. The circular tray has traces of red clouds painted on the white slip on its vertical sides. Exotic bronze lamps were some of the more prestigious objects in the Western Han tombs and copies in ceramics were made but are rare. The tortoise was considered a very auspicious animal beacuse of its associations with longevity.