Finial (475–221 BCE): Art, History and Details

Finial (475–221 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Chariots and weapons were associated with hunting and warfare in the ancient world. Those bronze fittings with lavish inlaid decoration were status symbols of rulers and high-ranking officials. This finial combines extravagance and ferocious beauty to reveal the aesthetics of the time. The birds with hooked beaks are above the intertwined serpent-dragons. Such artistic conception emphasizes the power of the bird in combat. Every facet of this finial is exquisitely crafted to give full play to the inlaid decoration.

Object facts

• Title: Finial
• Date: 475–221 BCE
• Culture: China, Henan province, Jincun, Warring States period (475–221 BCE)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: bronze inlaid with gold and silver
• Dimensions: Overall: 13.1 cm (5 3/16 in.)
• Collection: China - Zhou Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1930.730

A detail from the museum

This finial is made to be placed on the top of a pole or staff.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Kümmel, Otto. Jörg Trübner zum Gedächtnis. Ergebnisse seiner letzten chinesischen Reisen. Berlin: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1930.
• Hollis, Howard C. “Two Chinese Bronzes.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 18, no. 4 (April 1931): 66–73.
• Spendlove, F. St. George, ed. Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, 1935-6. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1935.

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.