Henan Museum
Painted Three-courtyard Earthenware Manor
Edit: Acf
Time: 2023-09-18 17:04:04
Period: Ming dynasty (1368-1644)
Provenance: Excavated at Qianzhongwang village, Jiaxian County, Henan Province in 1960
Measurements: H.of tower 58. W.89 cm, L. of the manor 149 cm; H. of the roofed gate. 39 cm, L. of the base 23 cm, W. 15 cm.
About:

This funerary model building made of painted red earthenware features a three-courtyard complex with a memorial arch. The overall structure comprises ten buildings with pitched roofs and overhanging eaves, the eaves supported by blocks and bracket, there is one main hall and nine rooms. The buildings and the four gateways are encircled by a wall, making the overall structure a sihe yuan (four-walled courtyard house). Outside the main gate are two screen walls at 45 degrees to the compound wall, with a straight screen wall inside the gate in the front courtyard. There is an earthenware sedan chair in the left corner of the front courtyard; the rear courtyard has a grindstone and a mortar and pestle in the right corner, as well as a pig and a sheep.

According to the tomb inscription unearthed, the owner of this residence tomb, Wang Han, style name Wei Bang, also known as Shuangquan, was buried in the year Dingchou of the Wanli era (i.e., 1577 AD). He was a wealthy local landowner. It is modelled on the four-walled courtyard houses of central China. These include the pitched roofs with overhanging eaves, memorial arch, hipped roof, painted blocks and brackets and overlapping tiles, and the ridge decorations, it is imbued with the accumulated social life and historical culture. It holds significant value and meaning for the study of ancient Chinese architectural history and architectural art.