Description A pair of axle fittings of a chariot
Cast bronze, partly malachite green, partly grey and earth-coloured patina and stronger incrustations
Height appx. 115 mm, Width incl. bolts appx. 115 mm, diameter appx. 49 mm
Later Western Chou period around 900-800 BC
Provenance: Collection Susan Chen, Hong Kong 1980s, private collection Austria
Both slightly conical fittings carry two circular bands with stylised, intertwined dragons (panchi), on the flat cap an ornament that cannot be further classified and are still provided with a leiwen band below the cap. Both have two slots each for still existing bolts, each of which wear a tiger’s head.
Almost identical specimens are in: Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji (The Complete Collection of Chinese Bronzes), Editing Committee ed., Cultural Relics Publishing House (Beijing) 1994, vol. 7 as no. 54 on pp. 56/57, a further comparative piece, however dated much later, at Jessica Rawson/Emma Bunker, Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Hong Kong 1994, on pp. 168/9, no. 70, illustrated and described.
RefEgy5320 RefChi5320