Department:
The Museum Proper
Replica or Original:
Replica
On Display, In Storage, or in a Private Offsite Collection:
On Display
Primary Material:
Metal
Medium:
Bronze
Dimensions:
14" x 17" x 4"
Classification/Category:
Furnishings
Specific Classification:
Statue
Notable Signatures,
Inscriptions, and/or Markings:
Donated by:
Unknown
Accession Number
1993.049.001
Artifact Date:
1000 B.C. - A.D.
Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD)
Artifact Era/Dynasty:
Unknown
Creator:
Chinese
Creator Ancestry:
In 1969, the Bronze Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Sparrow was unearthed from the Leitai tomb of the Eastern Han Dynasty in Wuwei County, Gansu Province, China. While digging air raid shelters, civilians discovered the Han Dynasty tomb. This discovery breached the brick tomb walls, uncovering a trove of gold, bronze and silver wares, pottery, and a bevy of bronze horses and chariots. The most imposing of the artifacts unearthed was an exquisite bronze galloping horse statue.
The Bronze Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Sparrow has been distinguished for its value as an ancient Chinese relic by artists and individuals internationally. The artifact in our collection animates a similar form, capturing vitality, while the bird underfoot serves as a marker for the horse’s lightning-fast speed. Some scholars dispute that the trodden-on bird is a swallow due to the lack of a forked tail, but the majority believe it to be, crediting ancient poems verses relating horses and swallows.
Artifact Date:
1000 B.C. - A.D.
Artifact Era/Dynasty:
Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD)
Creator:
Unknown
Creator Ancestory:
Chinese
Catalogue Entry
Online References:
Department:
The Museum Proper
On Display, In Storage, or in a Private Offsite Collection:
On Display
Replica or Original:
Replica
A bronze statue of a horse stepping on a swallow.
一匹馬踏飛燕的銅像。
Listen
Classification/Category:
Furnishings
Specific Classification:
Statue
Notable Signatures,
Inscriptions, and/or Markings: