TWO GILT-BRONZE ANIMAL MASK MOUNTS

Details

TWO GILT-BRONZE ANIMAL MASK MOUNTS
WESTERN HAN DYNASTY, 2ND-1ST CENTURY B.C.

Each of curved section and hollow cast as a dragon mask with flat snout and bulging eyes, the larger with backswept mane trailing back behind the ears to end in curls beside a plain, triangular, central section of mane, the smaller with a pair of laid-back ears flanking a pair of flattened horns, the larger with some cuprous and ferrous encrustation
3 1/8 and 1¼in. (7.8 and 3.2cm.) across, stand (2)

Lot Essay

A mount similar to the larger of the two was included in the exhibition, Ancient Art from the Shumei Family Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, June 20-September 1, 1996, Catalogue, p. 112, no. 49, where it is described as a chariot fitting. Compare, also, the similar fitting illustrated in Zhongguo Chulu Wenwu, Wenhua Dageming zhong (Archaeological Treasures Excavated in China During the Cultural Revolution), Tokyo, 1973, no. 103