A GILT-BRONZE BRIDLE ORNAMENT

NORTH CHINA, 3RD-2ND CENTURY BC

Details

A GILT-BRONZE BRIDLE ORNAMENT
NORTH CHINA, 3RD-2ND CENTURY BC
The curved plaque is cast in high relief with a bear in combat with two raptor-headed mythical animals within a rope border. There are two angular loops on the reverse.
4 ½ in. (11.5 cm.) long

Provenance

The Erwin Harris Collection, Miami, Florida, by 1995.

Literature

J. F. So and E. C. Bunker, Traders and Raiders on China's Northern Frontier, Washington D.C., Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1995, p. 141, no. 60.

Lot Essay

It is noted in Traders and Raiders on China’s Northern Frontier, p. 141, that a similar undecorated plaque was found with horse and vehicle equipment in southeastern Inner Mongolia. The entry also notes that the ornament is mercury gilded, which indicates that the piece was cast “either in some Western Han workshop or by Han artisans in Xiongnu employ.”

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