Page 358 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

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Bronze winged mythical animal inlaid are inscribed on the objects must have been the
with silver officials responsible for the objects when they were
displayed at the royal residence or during rituals.
3
Height 24 (9'/2), length 40 (15 A)
To prevent theft or paring of the metals, many of
Middle Warring States Period,
the objects found in King Cuo's tomb had their
late fourth century BCE
exact weight inscribed (presumably corresponding
From Tomb i at Sanji, Pingshan, Hebei Province
to records kept in treasury inventories). The in-
Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics Institute, scriptions on two of the winged beasts — one of
Shijiazhuang each pair — indicate an intention to record the
weight, but for some reason the amounts were
Two pairs of bronze beasts were separately placed never inscribed.
in two storage compartments flanking King Cuo's While most large animal-shaped bronzes from
burial chamber. The object on exhibit 1 comes from the Chinese Bronze Age are vessels (cat. 76), King
the eastern storage compartment. Inscriptions Cuo's tomb yielded a remarkable array of specimens
indicate that the two pairs had belonged to two that could not have been put to such a use. Never-
different official treasuries (shiku) at King Cuo's theless, most of these objects probably served a
court. 2 In each pair, the heads of the beasts turn in utilitarian function. Sockets on the backs of three
opposite directions; depending on their placement, of the most famous such bronzes, for instance,
the beasts face toward or away from each other. indicate that the objects may have been supports
The four are otherwise identical in shape and for a paneled screen. The original function of the
ornamentation, an indication that they were manu- four winged mythical beasts, however, is unknown.
3
factured together. The individuals whose names The excavators suggest that they might have served

357 TOM B OF KIN G CUO OF Z H O N G S H A N