A gilt-bronze rectangular plaque, Qin / Western Han dynasty | 秦 / 西漢 鎏金銅牌

Depicted with two recumbent rams below a row of interlinked ram heads, this plaque exemplifies the cross-cultural exchanged during the Qin / Western Han dynasty. During this period, a decorative 'animal style' became the most popular form of jewellery and ornamentation, as seen on this plaque. This style arose from the primary significance of hunting and herding in the history of Northern Asia. Compare a closely related example, excavated from the tomb of Liu Zhi, Marqui of Wanqu of the Western Han dynasty, Xuzhou province, and now preserved in the Xuzhou Museum, Xuxhou, illustrated in Qiang Meng, ‘Excavation of the Tomb of Liu Zhi, Marquis of Wanqu of Western Han near Xuzhou’, Wenwu/Cultural Relics, no.2, Beijing, 1996, pl.2.; and a pair of plaques with confronting Bactrian camels, in the Miho Museum, Koka, published in Catalogue of the Miho Museum, Kyoto, 1997, pl.112.