Minneapolis Institute of Art

Chariot shaft socket

China

Date

13th–12th century BCE

Medium

Bronze

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

This bronze object served as a fitting on a horse-drawn chariot, which accompanied the deceased at burial for use in the afterlife. On its base is a realistically shaped head of a water buffalo. On each side of the cylinder is a creature with a human head, kneeling with hands uplifted. Similarly posed zoomorphic figures appear on other Shang bronzes, serving as protectors, progenitors, or totems of the clan that cast the vessel. China, Asia

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