Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

Based on the style this is probably from the Ordos region located in northwestern China bordering on Siberia. This area has proved a rich source of bronze-age material dating to the first millennium BCE. Produced by nomads, Ordos bronzes mainly consist of decorative plaques which were sewn onto garments or horse furnishing. Beautifully crafted weapons and ornaments, worn by both people and horses frequently depict animals particularly sheep, rams, deer, horses, antelope, and ibex. All these animals would have been important to the people of steppes who made their living herding, livestock trading, hunting, fishing, and trapping and, to a more limited degree, farming. Although often spoken about as if the area between Russia in the east and Hungary in the west was one vast tract of grassland, in reality the region included mountains, forests, and deserts.