CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

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plumes and two intertwined scrolls emerge from
the top of the head, joining scrolls that unfurl from
behind the ears. The faces recall an intricate bronze
handle from the tomb of Liu Sheng, and their design
may derive from a number of sources: they
resemble the ancient taotie, while the scrolling
extensions also call to mind the faces on molds
from the Jin state foundry at Houma. They resemble
the face patterns around the edges of hi disks,
found in abundance in the tomb of the King of
Nanyue and may also draw on designs typical of the
metalwork and wood carvings from the border areas
of Xinjiang and Siberia. 2
Two birds standing upright with wings outspread
and a long tails were mounted at the top
screen joints. All the pieces along the top incorporate
small tubular supports, which may have carried
feathers, as did the paired beasts at the bottom
corners. It is likely that the tails of the birds had
magnificent pheasant feathers.
Remains of screens found in the tombs at
Zhongshan, including a renowned fitting of a tiger
grappling with a deerlike creature, are evidence
of the use of screens in China back to at least the
fourth century BCE. The excavators of the Zhongshan
tombs have suggested that the screens may
435 TOMB OF THE KING OF NANYUE