About This Artwork

China

Monster Mask from a Horse Bridle, Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1050–771 B.C.), c. 9th century B.C.

Bronze
26.5 x 27.5 x 0.3 cm (10 3/8 x 10 3/4 x 3/32 in.)

Lucy Maud Buckingham Collection, 1930.365

Asian Art
Gallery 131b

This sheet of hammered bronze was attached to cloth or leather as part of an elaborate bridle. The mask was placed on the horse's forehead, between the ears. Similar plaques have been excavated from the trappings of horses and chariots that were buried in trenches adjacent to aristocratic tombs in present-day Xi'an, the site of the Western Zhou capital.