Detail View: The AMICA Library: Mat Weight in the Form of a Bear
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AMICA ID:
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CMA_.1994.203
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AMICA Library Year:
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1998
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Object Type:
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Sculpture
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Creator Nationality:
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Asian; Far East Asian; Chinese
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Creator Dates/Places:
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China
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Creator Name-CRT:
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China, Western Han Dynasty
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Title:
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Mat Weight in the Form of a Bear
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Title Type:
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Primary
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View:
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Full View
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Creation Date:
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206 BC - 25 AD
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Creation Start Date:
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-206
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Creation End Date:
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25
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Materials and Techniques:
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gilt bronze
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Dimensions:
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Overall: 15.7cm
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AMICA Contributor:
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The Cleveland Museum of Art
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Owner Location:
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Cleveland, Ohio, USA
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ID Number:
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1994.203
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Credit Line:
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John L. Severance Fund
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Rights:
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Context:
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Engaging functional works of art that represent playful characterizations of real animals are among the greatest achievements of Han dynasty sculptors. This solid gilt-bronze bear, for example, was originally one of a set of weights used to anchor the edges of woven dining mats. Not only used during elaborate formal banquets, such weights were also frequently buried with other luxury goods in aristocratic Han tombs. In one such burial, four comparable gilt bronzes in the form of leopards were found at the corners of a decayed mat bearing containers for a symbolic feast. The selection and styling of this animal subject may be related to the expansion of the imperial zoological park and hunting reserve adjacent to the palace during the rule of the Han emperor Wudi (ruled 140?87 BC). This huge natural park, designed as a microcosm of the empire, allowed the emperor and his courtiers to observe the various species of plants and animals known at the time. The Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus)--the beast represented in Cleveland's golden weight--may well have been one of the species kept at the park and reserve. Quite ferocious, it figures prominently in Chinese literature of the period. One poem, written by Wudi's favorite court poet, describes hand-to-hand combat with the beast during a royal hunting expedition, while another account tells of how Han emperor Yuandi (ruled 48?32 BC) was almost attacked by a bear that got loose in the palace. This brilliant animal sculpture perfectly exemplifies the kind ofnaturalism explored by Han sculptors. Its conception and design suggest that they were, indeed, familiar with their natural subjects. Although simplified and lacking surface texture, the weight deftly captures the mass and characteristic anatomy of its subject, making it almost a kind of paradigmatic image of bearness. Its relaxed natural pose reflects not only a fidelity to observations of the animal's habits but also an effort to create an artistic form that by its shape alone communicates its intendedfunction. This piece, long owned by the Belgian collector Adolphe Stoclet (1871-1949), is related to a pair of hollow examples purchased by Mrs. Isabella Stewart Gardner of Boston in February 1914. The Gardner bears were said to have been excavated in 1900near Xi'an, Shaanxi, not far from the Western Han capital. No other examples have been found more recently by Chinese archaeologists. K.W.
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Related Image Identifier Link:
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CMA_.1994.203.tif
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