China; probably Henan province
Model of a Wellhead with Roosters
Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), 100 BCE–100 CE
Gray earthenware with molded, incised, and stamped decoration
45.5 × 25.2 cm (17.9 × 9.9 in)
SEE IT IN PERSON
● On view now — Gallery 133
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · verified July 2026
Discussion
FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG
These jaunty roosters once sat atop a model well in Han-dynasty China. They are perched on the roof, which covered a pulley for raising and lowering buckets. Both the wellhead and the pigsty in the adjacent case resemble objects excavated from a tomb in Huixian, a city in northern China, and they may have come from the same workshop.
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