Harness ornament

This ornament, whose decorative effect was enhanced by the gilding, consists of the assembly of three elements: a concave disc pierced with a hole, a medallion which is inserted into it, and a loop which is grafted onto the latter. .

The central motif depicts a bear seen from the front in foreshortening. The stylized treatment of the coat, by successive nets in relief, is an evocation of the animal art of the empire xiongnu 匈奴. This powerful confederation of pastoral peoples dominated the eastern part of the Eurasian steppe between the 3^e century BC. AD and the end of the 1^er century of our era.

The style xiongnu » had a great vogue in the Western Han empire, in particular the theme of the bear, and more precisely that of the brown bear ursus arctos (xiongpi 熊羆). As in many cultures over its era of distribution, it is undoubtedly its ability to stand up like a human being that seems to have fascinated, which earned it the name of bear-human, reborn 人羆 in Chinese.

Cartel:

harness ornament
Cast bronze and mercury gilding, China
Western Han Dynasty (206 BC–9)
I. max. : 11cm
CM 2004-4

Gift of the Society of Friends of the Cernuschi Museum thanks to the support of the Antoni Laurent Foundation, 2004

Phalera decorated with a bear (User name), -0206. Cernuschi Museum, Museum of Asian Arts of the City of Paris.

Phalera decorated with a bear (User name), -0206. Cernuschi Museum, Museum of Asian Arts of the City of Paris.