CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

58
Bronze tiger
Height 25.5 (10), width 53.5 (21 Vs), weight 6.2 (13 5 A)
Late Shang Period (c. 1200-1050 BCE)
From Dayangzhou, Xin'gan, Jiangxi Province
Jiangxi Provincial Museum, Nanchang
Bronze foundries specialized in the production
of weapons and ritual vessels. Nonetheless, by the
beginning of the Late Shang, metal was being used
for other objects, including helmets, masks and
heads, and animal figures. Such objects retain the
surface decoration common on ritual vessels and
rely on the same piece-mold casting process. These
less typical castings may also represent exercises
in creative design, combining several media and
synthesizing imagery found in other contexts. The
bronze tiger 1 in the Dayangzhou tomb exemplifies
many of these trends.
The animal was cast, but with three flat sides
and open bottom resembles a folded plate of
bronze; the design is reminiscent of the carved
marble tiger from Tomb 1001 at Xibeigang. 2 The
bronze tiger's face is composed of conventional
elements: fangs in the upper jaw and the short ears
suggest the species. The body, on the other hand,
is less specific to the animal itself. Two large limbs
(whose surfaces are not descriptive of a feline's
coat) originate from relief shoulders and end in
what must be claws. The curled tail is rendered as
191 I TOMB AT DAYANGZHOU, XIN'GAN