Architectural Fitting (Gong), Eastern Zhou dynasty, Spring and Autumn period (770–481 B.C.), 7th century B.C., Qishan county, Shaanxi province. Bronze, 16.2 × 17.8 cm. Lucy Maud Buckingham Collection, 1924.228e © Art Institute of Chicago 

This is one of sixteen hollow bronze fittings in the museum’s collection that together comprise rectangular, L-shaped, and cylindrical pieces. In 1973, fittings of similar shape and design were excavated from the site of a palace of the 7th century B.C. in modern-day Fengxiang, Shaanxi province in north China. Most show tightly interlaced surface patterns like those cast in this piece. Archaeologists have conjectured that these fittings, some of which preserve traces of wood, originally served as collars and sleeves that had been socketed over a framework of timber columns and tie beams embedded into the earthen walls. Some of these pieces may originally have been stuffed with silk to tighten them.