The bronze cash tree is from Mianyang, Sichuan Province. It survived the May 12 earthquake and was successfully transferred to Beijing for this exhibition.
Cash trees are common burial articles in the Eastern Han Dynasty, carrying people’s wish for wealth and longevity.
This bronze tree consists of basis, trunk and crown. On the twigs are hung with copper cash, which will seemingly fall down if the trunk is shaken. On the leaves are decorated with bronze images symbolizing longevity in ancient Chinese tales.
Silver-inlaid bronze lamp in the shape of an ox
Time: Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 AD)
Specification: the whole artifact is 46.2 centimeters tall; the ox is 36.4 centimeters long.
Excavation: Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, in 1980
Collection place: Nanjing Museum, Jiangsu Province
The lamp is supported on the back of an ox, the two connected by a chimney which rises in a broad curve from the animal’s lowered head through the lamp’s dome. The movable round base of the lamp is equipped with a handle, and the latticed cylindrical shade with two rings, by means of which the ventilation, the intensity and angle of the lighting can be adjusted. Water is placed in the hollow belly of the ox. When the lamp is burning, smoke rises and travels through the chimney to the belly where it dissipates in the water. The problem of pollution, to which this ingenious design provides a solution, is as relevant today as it was in the Han dynasty. The bronze surface is decorated with a silver inlay design, in the pattern of flowing clouds and spiral shell.
The skill of silver inlay first began in the Spring and Autumn period. First, they used embedded wire or pieces made of gold, silver or other kindd of metal on the bronze to compose designs. Then they used whetstone to polish the surface. This technique was blooming in Warring States period, fading out by the Eastern Han dynasty. But this collection gives us an opportunity to appreciate the outstanding skills of the Eastern Han dynasty.
Editor: Dong Jirong
Email to Friends
Print
Save