Page 422 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

creature; the two horns of the beast are gripped in
the claws of large birds, and feathered wings appear
at the lower extremities. The birdlike features in
particular are reminiscent of griffins depicted in
western Asian (especially Iranian) metalwork, and
the detailed textured surfaces of the design recall
the gold relief-work of Central Asia and areas fur-
ther west. 3
Clearly, given the medium, the carver of this
jade could neither reproduce the intricate relief of
the bronze with any ease, nor imitate the sinuous
fantasy of such an earlier piece — even had it been
his intention to do so. Nonetheless, features that
originate in bronzework appear in the jade, in par-
ticular the incised lines that form the pupils of the
creature. Other jades in the tomb of the King of
Nanyue illustrate the ways in which jade carvers
adapted designs from the bronzes: several of the
jade sword-fittings include feline dragons similarly
weaving in and out of the surface.
It is likely that the jade was part of a piece of
furniture, a chest or box, that was stored in the
king's tomb. The presence of the bi disk, however,
indicates that the jade had some connection with
expectations of auspicious outcomes over and
above those that might be achieved by exploiting
the powers of the animal face. JR

1 Excavated in 1983 (D 156); reported: Guangzhou 1991,
185-191, fig. 122:4.
2 Wang 1976, pi. 3:1.
3 For a discussion of this point see Rawson 1995, 60 - 75;
Shanxi 199613, figs. 25-28.

421 I TOMB OF THE KING OF NANYU E