◇ Heritage No. :
◇ Collection Name:gilded copper ornament
◇ Historical date:Western Han dynasty
◇ Collection Size:diameter 18.4cm
◇ Collection Source:unearthed from the tomb of King Chu of Beidongshan in 1986
Five gilded copper ornaments were unearthed from the tomb of the king of Chu in Beidongshan. The copper ornament is round in shape, with gilded surface and a slightly bulging round surface in the center. The patterns outside the center can be divided into two areas, two symmetrical Kui dragons in the inner area and four symmetrical Kui dragons in the outer area. There is a small square button on the back of the copper ornament. Some buttons have inscriptions of “two” or “seven” beside them. The back of the ornaments are more simple, only one of which is decorated with Kui dragon patterns. In this collection, there is no pattern on the back of this copper ornament. There is a "Five" character cast on the square button. Because of the large button hole, it is filled with tin to make the space smaller.
In terms of the design of gilded copper ornaments, they should be a combination of jade and rivets on the jade inlaid lacquer coffin. As a substitute of jade, the copper ornaments become decoration on the jade inlaid lacquer coffin. The problem of expensive jade materials, lack of resources, and time-consuming and laborious jade processing can be solved by the copper ornaments. This kind of copper and gilded substitute can be cast in batches. It can be easily processed and is not easy to break with more exquisite design. Insetting the coffin, it is glittering, magnificent and looks better than using jade decoration.