Crossbow Support (300–200 BCE): Art, History and Details

Crossbow Support (300–200 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Here, the rectangular socket of the bow support tapers elegantly to form the slender neck of an animal head. Silver inlay of wires and ribbons form an extraordinarily beautiful abstract design consisting of sweeping lines, coils, spirals, and serpentine interlaces.

Object facts

• Title: Crossbow Support
• Date: 300–200 BCE
• Culture: China, Warring States period (475–221 BCE)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: bronze inlaid with silver
• Dimensions: Overall: 21.8 cm (8 9/16 in.)
• Collection: China - Zhou Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1947.3

A detail from the museum

Both the support for the crossbow and the inlaid silver pattern on the square socket resemble a bird's long neck and head.

Collection credit

Edward L. Whittemore Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Hollis, Howard. "A Chinese Chariot Fitting." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 35, no. 2 (February 1948): 18–19. Published as a chariot fitting.
• Watson, William. L’art de L’ancienne Chine. Paris: Mazenod, 1979.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.