Page 192 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

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Bronze tiger in creative design, combining several media and
synthesizing imagery found in other contexts. The
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Height 25.5 (10), width 53.5 (21 Vs), weight 6.2 (13 A) 1
bronze tiger in the Dayangzhou tomb exemplifies
Late Shang Period (c. 1200-1050 BCE)
many of these trends.
From Dayangzhou, Xin'gan, Jiangxi Province
The animal was cast, but with three flat sides
Jiangxi Provincial Museum, Nanchang and open bottom resembles a folded plate of
bronze; the design is reminiscent of the carved
2
Bronze foundries specialized in the production marble tiger from Tomb 1001 at Xibeigang. The
of weapons and ritual vessels. Nonetheless, by the bronze tiger's face is composed of conventional
beginning of the Late Shang, metal was being used elements: fangs in the upper jaw and the short ears
for other objects, including helmets, masks and suggest the species. The body, on the other hand,
heads, and animal figures. Such objects retain the is less specific to the animal itself. Two large limbs
surface decoration common on ritual vessels and (whose surfaces are not descriptive of a feline's
rely on the same piece-mold casting process. These coat) originate from relief shoulders and end in
less typical castings may also represent exercises what must be claws. The curled tail is rendered as

191 I TOM B AT D A Y A N G Z H O U , X I N ' G A N