Page 57 - March 16, 2017 Chinese Art, The Harris Collection, Christies

849
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.
4Ω in. (11.5 cm.) long

$5,000-7,000

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.
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.”

公元前三至二世紀 中國北部 鎏金
銅熊紋馬飾

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