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Chariots and mounted guards
Eastern Han dynasty (25–220)
Bronze
Chariots: max. h. 22 7/8 in. (58 cm); figures: max. h. 20 5/8 in. (52.5 cm)
Excavated at Leitai, Wuwei, Gansu Province, 1969
Gansu Provincial Museum
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This group of chariots and mounted guards is part of an unusually large set of ninety-nine bronze figures found in the front chamber of a third-century tomb. Ten mounted warriors, three chariots, including one with an umbrella for the deceased, and a carriage with protective side panels are on view in the exhibition. A driver and an escort on foot accompany each chariot. Each horse is equipped with an ornamental headpiece and a movable saddle that originally had painted decoration. The chariots are meticulous miniatures made precisely to scale with every detail—harness, seat, umbrella, shafts, and wheels—painstakingly cast. Seals recovered from the tomb suggest that the deceased was likely a commandery governor, a position of high rank at the court.
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