Brick with a Scene of Hunting and Harvesting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2017

Brick with Scene of Hunting and Harvesting


Object Details

Period: Eastern Han dynasty (25–220)

Culture: China

Medium: Earthenware

Dimensions: H. 15 9/16 in. (39.6 cm); W. 17 15/16 in. (45.6 cm); Th. 2 3/8 in. (6 cm); Wt. 46.7 lbs (21.2 kg)

Classification: Sculpture

Credit Line: Lent by Sichuan Provincial Museum


Most noteworthy in this scene of hunting and harvesting are the two kneeling archers taking aim at a flock of birds in flight. To the left of each archer is a group of four triangular devices, at least one of which is connected to an arrow with a cord. These features may reflect a unique shooting method called yishe, or corded-arrow hunting, which was a leisure activity among elites from the Eastern Zhou (771–256 B.C.) through the Eastern Han. Yishe involved firing an arrow attached to a silk cord with a weighted mechanism tied to its end. If a bird that had been struck attempted to fly away, the weighted arrow kept it grounded.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/640969