Minneapolis Institute of Art

Belt plaque, one of a pair

Ordos artist

Date

3rd-2nd century BCE

Medium

Bronze

Culture

Ordos

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

These two mirror-image plaques cast in shallow relief show a feline and an eagle with griffin head locked in combat. Animal combat and hunting themes were popular with the nomadic peoples of China’s northern frontier during the late Bronze Age. Numerous bronze horse trappings, weapons, belt hooks, and plaques such as these have been excavated from tombs in Mongolia, Siberia, the Ordos region, and northern provinces of China. This so-called “animal style” influenced the art of the more settled populations of China during the late Bronze Age. Asia

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