Page 64 - March 16, 2017 Chinese Art, The Harris Collection, Christies

857
TWO GILT-BRONZE RECTANGULAR BELT PLAQUES
NORTH CHINA, 3RD-2ND CENTURY BC
Each plaque is cast in relief with an ungulate being attacked by a bear and a wolf, the
design incorporating raptor heads along the lower, upper and inner edges. Each has
two vertical attachment loops on the reverse, and one is pierced with a single hole.
4æ and 4¬ in. (12 and 11.8 cm.) long, box

(2)
$10,000-15,000

PROVENANCE

Pierced plaque: acquired in Hong Kong, 1990.
Both: 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. 144, no. 64.

A pair of similar plaques was found near Sandiancun, in the eastern suburbs of Xi’an
province, the location of the capital during the Western Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 8).
Another pair is illustrated by E. C. Bunker et al., Nomadic Art of the Eastern Eurasian
Steppes, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2002, p. 101, no. 68. The backs
of these plaques display a woven fabric pattern indicating that they were cast by the
lost-wax/lost-textile process, which is also true of the present plaque with the single
hole.

公元前三至二世紀 中國北部 鎏金銅熊狼捕獵紋飾牌

62 THE HARRIS COLLECTION:
IMPORTANT EARLY CHINESE ART