国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

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separates them. This same design is found on the necks of the four horses, with openwork manes. A final motive is behind them, a ram-head with a bird above its horns. The summary modeling of the animals is reminiscent of a period around i000. To the unanswered riddle of its purpose we must also

add the baffling question as to its meaning. There was certainly some significance in the mind of the artist who made it. One may suppose that it belongs to

the mythological group of which Hentze speaks (2i). If we examine only the

general form, we notice that it corresponds very well with part of an object found in China as well as at Minussinsk. I find it possible to imagine that it

may be a cart yoke, proved by Martin to have existed at Minussinsk (22). But

the side projections which are always present at Minussinsk and in China are missing in this strange bronze from the Loo collection. The opening below,

however, has been repeated. Perhaps this piece is a yoke to which the side pieces were attached separately. If our theory is accepted, this object must nevertheless be considered a miniature copy and destined for burial purposes exclusively.

2. Holders.

Objects thus named were probably fastened to reins, but should not be confused with appliques and plaques, as the elementary form is quite different. In this

case the ornament entirely surrounds the reins which are drawn through the

holder. The square examples have a transversal opening in the form of an elongated oval. The reproductions do not clearly show that this object is very

much like our metal match-holders, open at each end. There can be no doubt

that they are derived from Minussinsk where we find the same type with animals on one slightly openwork side, while the reverse side is smooth and considerably

more perforated. In the Jenissei the front is usually decorated with facing

animals, (23) contorted in the Scythian and Sarmatian manner. There are pairs of dragons (Historical Museum, Moscou) and pairs of tigers (Plate XL no. 4).

In the art of Minussinsk this type is relatively late, of about the first half of the

I millennium. The form is repeated at the Chinese frontier with but little alteration, except that the whole rectangle is decorated. Plate XL no. 5 shows a boar

in profile, the primitive drawing of which does not seem possible before i000.

In the form of a short tube, open at top and bottom, with a horizontal circular cut and the upper edge projecting forward, this object is also found in the Jenissei.

Tallgren reproduces one example with an openwork back and calls it " ornament for the ends of reins " (24). The decoration on the outside appears to be the head of a ruminant. A repliqua from the north of China only differs from the Siberian piece in that the back is unperforated. The date is also about i000.

3. Ornamental disks.

With the unperforated disk bearing a handle on the upper rim we overlap a little the pendants grouped in Chapter VIII (Plate XXXII no. 4). This object