A PAIR OF BRONZE AXLE CAPS AND PINS, DOU
China, Eastern Zhou dynasty, 5th-3rd century BC

With a circular section, each with a dense and refined decoration of slightly raised motifs on the outside, the end of the pins modeled like a tiger's head.

6,5 x 7,5 cm each

Provenance : Fabrizio Savi collection, acquired from Anthony J. Allen, Auckland, New Zealand, between 1995 and 2000.
These ornaments were used for the ends of the axial shaft of the chariot. Their use widely spread during the Zhou dynasty. For a not dissimilar couple, kept in the MAO of Turin, see L'arte per la vita nell'Aldilà. Capolavori di arte antica cinese dalla collezione Meidaozhai (3 voll.). Volume primo. Il Neolitico e l'Età del bronzo, edited by M. Pirazzoli-t 'Serstevens, Turin 2002, p. 184, nn. 125-126; see also the similar items in the British Museum of London (1932,1014.2.a).