LATE SHANG-EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 13TH-11TH CENTURY BC

The exact function of bronze fittings of this type appears to still to be in question. One theory is that such fittings were mounted on bows, as shown in a line drawing illustrated by Cheng Dong and Zhong Tao, Ancient Chinese Weapons - A Collection of Pictures, Beijing, 1990, p. 34, fig. 2-69. Another theory is that they would have been worn at the front of an equestrian’s waist, almost like a belt hook, to serve as a tool for hanging the reins in order to free the rider’s hands to use his bow and arrow.

For a similar fitting with horse-head jingles and turquoise inlay see the example found in 1976 at Xiaodun, Anyang, illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi quanji, vol. 3, Shang, Beijing, 1997, p. 208, pl. 207, where four others with spherical jingles are also illustrated, pp. 209-14, pls. 208-12. Another turquoise-inlaid example with horse-head jingles is illustrated in Ancient Chinese Arts in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1989, pl. 89.