CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

121
Bronze winged mythical animal inlaid
with silver
Height 24 (9'/2), length 40 (15 3 A)
Middle Warring States Period,
late fourth century BCE
From Tomb i at Sanji, Pingshan, Hebei Province
Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics Institute,
Shijiazhuang
Two pairs of bronze beasts were separately placed
in two storage compartments flanking King Cuo's
burial chamber. The object on exhibit 1 comes from
the eastern storage compartment. Inscriptions
indicate that the two pairs had belonged to two
different official treasuries (shiku) at King Cuo's
court. 2 In each pair, the heads of the beasts turn in
opposite directions; depending on their placement,
the beasts face toward or away from each other.
The four are otherwise identical in shape and
ornamentation, an indication that they were manufactured
together. 3 The individuals whose names
are inscribed on the objects must have been the
officials responsible for the objects when they were
displayed at the royal residence or during rituals.
To prevent theft or paring of the metals, many of
the objects found in King Cuo's tomb had their
exact weight inscribed (presumably corresponding
to records kept in treasury inventories). The inscriptions
on two of the winged beasts — one of
each pair — indicate an intention to record the
weight, but for some reason the amounts were
never inscribed.
While most large animal-shaped bronzes from
the Chinese Bronze Age are vessels (cat. 76), King
Cuo's tomb yielded a remarkable array of specimens
that could not have been put to such a use. Nevertheless,
most of these objects probably served a
utilitarian function. Sockets on the backs of three
of the most famous such bronzes, for instance,
indicate that the objects may have been supports
for a paneled screen. The original function of the
four winged mythical beasts, however, is unknown.
The excavators suggest that they might have served
357 TOMB OF KING CUO OF ZHONGSHAN