Lot 857. Two gilt-bronze rectangular belt plaques, North China, 3rd-2nd century AD. Estimate: USD 10,000 - USD 15,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

Each plaque is cast in relief with an ungulate being attacked by a bear and a wolf, the design incorporating raptor heads along the lower, upper and inner edges. Each has two vertical attachment loops on the reverse, and one is pierced with a single hole. 4 ¾ and 4 5/8 in. (12 and 11.8 cm.) long, box

Provenance: Pierced plaque: acquired in Hong Kong, 1990.
Both: The Erwin Harris Collection, Miami, Florida, by 1995.

Literature: J. F. So and E. C. Bunker, Traders and Raiders on China's Northern Frontier, Washington D.C., Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1995, p. 144, no. 64.

Note: A pair of similar plaques was found near Sandiancun, in the eastern suburbs of Xi’an province, the location of the capital during the Western Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 8). Another pair is illustrated by E. C. Bunker et al., Nomadic Art of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2002, p. 101, no. 68. The backs of these plaques display a woven fabric pattern indicating that they were cast by the lost-wax/lost-textile process, which is also true of the present plaque with the single hole.

Christie's. The Harris Collection: Important Early Chinese Art, 16 March 2017, New York, Rockefeller Center