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Gilt bronze plaque with animals in a landscape
From the collection of National Museum of Asian Art (Freer/Sackler). Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The combination of thick gilding and colorful semi-precious stone inlays is characteristic of Han decoration. The subject matter--animals among mountain peaks--alludes to the ideal landscape of the immortals, where man and beast roam free and in harmony with nature. The function of this ornament is unclear, but it may have served as a decorative inset in a much larger piece of furnishing.
National Museum of Asian Art (Freer/Sackler)’s own descriptionCredit lineGilt bronze plaque with animals in a landscape. ca. 2nd century BCE. National Museum of Asian Art (Freer/Sackler), Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment. CC0.
