Page 317 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

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Painted lacquer screen the base of the stand (probably intended to repre-
sent the subterranean world), intertwined snakes,
Height 15 (5 7s), width 51.8 (20 Ys)
Middle Warring States Period, c. middle or second densely massed, are caught in the act of smothering
small birds. Such reptilian iconography was particu-
half of the fourth century BCE
larly developed in the art of the Chu kingdom. 2
From Tomb i at Wangshan, Jiangling,
Hubei Province The images of attack and escape are imagina-
tively presented to pull the viewer into the scene.
Hubei Provincial Museum, Wuhan Attacked from behind, one of the frogs in each of
the panels faces out, while the other is seen from
This small screen, which stands on two nearly the rear; deer are captured in flight as they seek,
square feet, is made of a rectangular frame set with vainly, to escape the serpents. The composition can
1
various animals carved in the round. The some- be interpreted as a representation of life and death
what static composition of two symmetrical groups — and particularly of violent (albeit natural) death.
of figures is enlivened by the figures themselves: Animal combat scenes from pre-imperial China
All the animals, even the smallest, are engaged in only rarely display such naturalism and keen ob-
combat, and they are rendered with an attention servation. Probably influenced by animal represen-
3
to proportion and detail likely taken from direct tations from the steppe regions, Chinese artists
observation. Deer, frogs, and two different species made use of the theme from the sixth century BCE on.
of birds — the main figures in the composition — The screen can be viewed from any angle —
battle intertwined serpents; the snakes bite or even the narrow sides and areas normally obscured
menace the deer and the frogs, while the birds from sight are decorated with interlaced serpents
aggressively seize the snakes with their claws or — evidence of the high quality of this refined
grasp them in their beaks as if to swallow them. At sculpture (fig. i). The figures are carved separately

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