A Technical Study of Inlaid Eastern Zhou Bronzes in the British Museum Focusing on a Unique Figure of a Leaping Feline

Abstract

A bronze figure of a leaping feline (1883,1020.5) with gold and silver decoration has been dated to either the Eastern Zhou period (770–221 BC) or the Song dynasty (960–1279 AD). All arguments that support or oppose either attribution were based on stylistic features. In this paper a technical examination using a wide variety of analytical techniques was carried out to attempt to establish its date more scientifically. The investigation showed that the feline was made by casting the hollow body and legs then separately casting on the hollow head, or vice versa. The solid tail was also cast separately but was attached with soft solder and is probably a replacement. The ‘spacers’ in the wall of all the hollow parts appear to be non-metallic or holes where spacers have been removed. This evidence suggests that piece mould casting was probably the method of manufacture. The figure is decorated with silver inlays set into cut channels lined with a fine-grained filler. The gold decoration is fire gilding, which was applied after the silver inlays were in place.
The alloy composition and likely use of the piece mould casting method suggests that it is probably an Eastern Zhou product with later replacement of the tail and some repairs. If it had been made in the Song dynasty, the lost-wax method could have been used for this figural object. This hypothesis is, however, difficult to prove, as casting techniques and surface decoration of Song bronzes have not been studied in sufficient depth.