NORTHERN WEI DYNASTY (AD 386-534)

Details

A PAIR OF GILT-BRONZE RECTANGULAR PLAQUES
NORTHERN WEI DYNASTY (AD 386-534)
Each flat plaque is incised and gilded on one side with an animal, one a striding dragon, the other a recumbent feline with trefoil-tufted tail, each repeated in thread relief on the reverse below a dated inscription. The corners of each plaque are pierced for attachment.
3 ¾ in. (9.5 cm.) wide, box

Provenance

The Erwin Harris Collection, Miami, Florida, by 1981.

Lot Essay

The inscription on the ‘dragon’ plaque, Da Wei Taiping renwu siyue zao, may be translated, “made during the fourth month of the renwu year (AD 442) of the Taiping reign of the Great Wei.” The inscription on the ‘tiger’ plaque, Xiaochang bingwu linyue zao, may be translated, “made in the sixth month of the bingwu year (AD 526) of the Xiaochang period.”

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