Casting Model for Belt Plaque
Not on view
A primary beast-of-burden on the Silk Route, the camel plays a surprisingly minor role in the visual arts of Central Asia and China prior to the sixth century A.D. It seems likely that this plaque served as a model for the making of molds which in turn were sued to cast belt plaques or other adornments for people, horses, and chariots, favored by the Xiongnu and other Central Asian inhabitants.
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