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Chinese bronze axe decorated with tigers and dragons

Image attached to O.192-1946

An image of Axe head. The blade, socket, and socket cap all one piece of metal. The blade is flanked by two tigers. On the blade is a coiled dragon, a conventionalised dragon's head, and a t'ao t'ieh mask in the piece of blade at the back. On the cap is an elephant's head with horse's legs and a tiger's head at the back. Bronze, height 11.1 cm, length 14.6 cm, circa 500-249 B.C. Chou dynasty (1122-249 BC). Chinese Warring States period.

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About this image

Axe head. The blade, socket, and socket cap all one piece of metal. The blade is flanked by two tigers. On the blade is a coiled dragon, a conventionalised dragon's head, and a t'ao t'ieh mask in the piece of blade at the back. On the cap is an elephant's head with horse's legs and a tiger's head at the back. Bronze, height 11.1 cm, length 14.6 cm, circa 500-249 B.C. Chou dynasty (1122-249 BC). Chinese Warring States period.

Image data

  • Accession Number: O.192-1946
  • Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
  • Aperture: f/19.0
  • Focal length: 80
  • Camera: Hasselblad H3D II-31
  • Photographer name: Michael Jones
  • Image height: 805 pixels
  • Image width: 1024 pixels
  • Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.4 (Windows)
  • Filesize: 556.60kB
  • Exposure time: 1/8
  • ISO Speed: 100
  • Fnumber: 19/1
  • Captured: 2009:05:19 00:17:21

Key words

animals axe axe head axe-head BC bronze Chinese Chou Dynasty dragons elephants Fitz_AA mask metalwork t'ao t'ieh taotie mask tigers weapon Zhou Dynasty

Colours in this image

rgb(79,71,65), rgb(245,245,248), rgb(143,136,126), rgb(162,177,171), rgb(117,129,124), rgb(18,15,14), rgb(157,162,165), rgb(112,114,117), rgb(37,27,25), rgb(181,147,108), rgb(183,106,63)

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The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Chinese bronze axe decorated with tigers and dragons" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/media-2227324259 Accessed: 2024-12-23 15:27:37

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/media-2227324259 |title=Chinese bronze axe decorated with tigers and dragons |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-23 15:27:37|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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<div class="text-center">
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        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa36/O_192_1946_1_200905_mfj22_dc2.jpg"
        alt="Axe head"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Chinese bronze axe decorated with tigers and dragons</figcaption>
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