Henan Museum
The mythological animal-shaped object
Edit: acf
Time: 2011-06-29 07:21:05
Period: Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC)
Provenance: Excavated at Xujialing Chu state tomb, Xichuan, Henan Province, 1990
Measurements: Height: 48 cm
About:


Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC)
 Height: 48 cm
 Excavated at Xujialing Chu state tomb, Xichuan, Henan Province, 1990

 The main body of the object is a divine beast with a dragons head, a tigers body, and a tortoises legs. The six horns on he beasts head are composed of six snaking and threadlike, tiny dragons. There is also a dragonlike beast of the same type running upon the main creature's back. The entire body is covered with dragon and phoenix designs, produced through turquoise malachite inlay, There is a square hole on the creature's back. From the objects structure and the situation in which it was found it appears likely to have been either a chime or a drum stand

 The people of Chu believed in a broad pantheon of spirits and demons, and many of the objects they produced were suffused with beautiful imaginings of this spirit world. This unique model of a divine beast is a piece of ancient historical evidence, preserving the fertile mythology of Chu in bronze. This piece not only exudes a lifelike vitality, but also presents the viewer with a highly refined aesthetic bordering on the abstract.