Central Asia/Eurasia, Ordos culture or a neighboring group, ca. 6th to 4th centuries CE. A dramatic openwork belt plaque, made to be attached to a leather or cloth backing, depicting a feline attacking a deer. The animal's head is bent over its kill, whose body is depicted as diminutive compared to the powerful feline. The depiction also suggests that the artist had some familiarity with what they were seeing: the antlered neck is twisted back as if broken, while the feline's sinuous body appears muscular, with a large head. Perhaps the artist had seen a Siberian tiger immediately after a hunt! The back of the plaque features three small loops for attachment, while the front has been lightly tinned to give it a silvery color - common practice in this region. Size: 3.75" W x 2" H (9.5 cm x 5.1 cm); 2.5" H (6.4 cm) on included custom stand.

Emma Bunker at the Denver Art Museum has noted the similarity between this piece and a tin-plated, cast bronze tiger-shaped plaque excavated in Maoqinggou (see publication below). That site, a cemetery located in Liangcheng County, Inner Mongolia, contained 79 tombs with animal sacrifices and weapons and body ornaments in the 'animal style'. The people buried there seem to have been pastoral nomads who traveled the steps, accumulating wealth and status throughout their lifetimes, rather than accruing it over generations through families. Fascinatingly, the tiger plaques - found between the Yinshan Mountains and Yellow River - seem to have belonged to certain special people within the community, both men and women. Some graves contained belts with multiple tiger plaques, as if people accrued them over time and wore them together along a single belt. Millennia later, the power and fierceness of the people able to own and wear such a belt is still potent.

Published: T. Pang and E. Bunker, "Treasures of the Eurasian Steppes: Animal Art from 800 BC to 200 AD", New York, 1998, no. 114.

Provenance: private Connecticut, USA collection; ex-private American collection, 1980s to 1990s

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#155931

Intact, with light wear commensurate with age. Excellent condition with beautiful green and blue patina.