Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Brick with Scene of Hunting and Harvesting
Eastern Han dynasty (25–220)
Not on view
Most noteworthy in this scene of hunting and harvesting are the two kneeling archers taking aim at a flock of birds in flight. To the left of each archer is a group of four triangular devices, at least one of which is connected to an arrow with a cord. These features may reflect a unique shooting method called yishe, or corded-arrow hunting, which was a leisure activity among elites from the Eastern Zhou (771–256 B.C.) through the Eastern Han. Yishe involved firing an arrow attached to a silk cord with a weighted mechanism tied to its end. If a bird that had been struck attempted to fly away, the weighted arrow kept it grounded.
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