Mat Weight in the Form of a Bear (202 BCE–9 CE): Art, History and Details

Mat Weight in the Form of a Bear (202 BCE–9 CE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The bear imagery was particularly popular during the Han dynasty and was a metaphor of heroic power. This heavy, solid bear was probably used as a mat weight; other small squatting bears often served as the legs of vessels.

Object facts

• Title: Mat Weight in the Form of a Bear
• Date: 202 BCE–9 CE
• Culture: China, Western Han dynasty (206 BCE–8 CE)
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: gilt bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 15.7 x 14.6 x 17.3 cm (6 3/16 x 5 3/4 x 6 13/16 in.)
• Collection: China - Han Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1994.203

A detail from the museum

Bear imagery, which symbolized heroic power, was particularly popular during the Han dynasty.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Kümmel, Otto. Chinesische Kunst; zweihundert Hauptwerke der Ausstellung der Gesellschaft für Ostasiatische Kunst in der Preussischen Akademie der Künste, Berlin, 1929, herausgegeben von Otto Kümmel. Berlin: B. Cassirer, 1930.
• The Chinese Exhibition; A Commemorative Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, November 1935-March 1936. London: Faber and Faber, 1936.
• Visser, H. F. E. Asiatic Art in Private Collections of Holland and Belgium. Amsterdam: "De Spieghel" Pub. Co, 1948.

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.