What kinds of gold and silver wares were there in the Warring States Period?

During the Warring States period, the special-shaped hooks were mainly ape-shaped, in addition to dragon and tiger-shaped, ox-shaped, human-shaped and so on. These are not only signs that the host shows off his identity, but also means to ward off evil spirits and keep peace.

During this period, the distribution area of gold and silver wares was obviously expanded, and they were found in both north and south, and the types of gold and silver wares increased.

Among them, the appearance of gold and silver utensils and a considerable number of silverware is very eye-catching. The appearance of large-scale gold and silver wares was an important symbol at that time and an epoch-making step in the development of gold and silver wares.

In the Central Plains, gold foil, as decoration outsourcing, was still widely used in the Spring and Autumn Period. For example, in Fengxiang County, Shaanxi Province, gold bubbles were found in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period at the site of Qinzong Temple in Majiazhuang. Two of them are 3.5 cm high, 2.2 cm in diameter and weigh 65438 00.8 g, while the others are 0.2 cm high, 65438 0.82 cm in diameter and weigh 5 g..

The gold square bubble at the site of Qin Zongmiao in Majiazhuang Spring and Autumn Period is 2.2 cm long, 1.7 cm wide and weighs 2 grams. There were also many gold deposits in the mid-Spring and Autumn Period, including 6 pieces with a length of 2. 1 cm, a width of 1.5 cm and a weight of 9.5 g, 1 piece with a length of 2. 1 cm, a width of 1.5 cm and a copper ring with a diameter of 4.7 cm. The maximum diameter of the cylinder is 0.9 to 1.8 cm and the weight is 2.2 to 7 grams. The gold-inlaid lacquer spoon found in Liujiadian tomb in Yishui, Shandong Province, is inlaid with triangular and diamond-shaped embossed gold foil. In the Chu Tomb in Changtaiguan, Xinyang, Henan Province, a large number of tassels were found, which were lacquerware with wooden tires, and some patterns on the front were covered with gold leaves. These are five pieces of gold-plated lacquerware. The gold foil was probably put on when the paint was about to dry.

12 gold foil was found in the tomb of Caihou, Shou County, Anhui Province in the late Spring and Autumn Period. Some come from the waist of the tomb, and the edge is perforated. They are embossed with patterns, such as circles, clouds and swallowtails, and most of them are stuck on patent leather, so they should be used as clothing decoration.

The northern gold and silver wares mainly include ornaments, weapons ornaments and horse ornaments. The shapes are mainly tiger, leopard, wolf, eagle, wild boar, monster, deer, cow, sheep and horse, and there are also a few geometric patterns and flame patterns.

For example, the ape-shaped silver ornaments found in the ruins of Lugu Ancient City in Qufu County, Shandong Province, are 16.7 cm high. The ape climbed back, and his posture was extremely vivid. There is a round button on the back, which may be an object with a hook.

A golden beast with a length of 4.9 cm, a height of 3.8 cm and a weight of 26.5 g was also found in the Spring and Autumn Tomb of Sanguandianzi in Lingyuan County, Liaoning Province. The golden beast is in the shape of a deer, and the producer accurately captured the moment when the deer turned around and started running.

During this period, gold and silver wares also appeared in the Xiongnu area in the north. Most of the artifacts are animal ornaments, which have strong grassland cultural characteristics. For example, the only eagle-shaped golden crown of "Hu Guan" found in the tomb of Aruchaideng in Hangjinqi, Yikezhaomeng, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and a number of gold and silver ornaments including animal images such as golden monsters, Hu Jin, silver tigers and silver deer found in a Xiongnu tomb in Nalin Gaotu Village, Shenmu, Shaanxi Province.

The Shi Hu bird plaque inlaid with gold in the Warring States Period, discovered in Aruchaideng, Hangjinqi, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is 4.5 cm long, mainly in the shape of a tiger, with seven red and green colored gems embedded in the tiger's body, a flaming horn pattern on the tiger's head and eight bird patterns on the periphery, which highlights the bird's head and simplifies the bird's body. This set of decorative cards reflects the Huns' worship of tigers.

An eagle-shaped golden crown ornament was found in Aruchaideng, Hangjinqi, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, during the Warring States Period, with a height of 7. 1cm, a weight of 192g, a belt diameter of 16.5cm and a weight of1022.4kg.. ..

It consists of a crown and a crown hoop. The crowned eagle stands proudly, spreading its wings to fly. The eagle is made of gold and hollow, and its body and wings are decorated with feathers.

The eagle's head and neck are made of turquoise, and there is a gold piece with lace between its necks, similar to a necklace. The head is inserted from the nostril with a gold thread and connected with the lower abdomen through the neck; The tail is made separately and connected with gold wire.

The lower part of the eagle is hemispherical with a thick gold hammer, and the surface is divided into 90-degree sectors from the center. Four groups of patterns of wolves biting sheep are embossed on it. The wolf is prone, the front legs of the sheep are bent, and the rear legs are bitten by wolves, making a reverse state.

The whole canopy presents a vivid picture of an eagle looking down at a wolf eating a sheep. The crown belt consists of three cast semicircular gold bars, with upper and lower bars in front, tenons and mortises in the middle and at the end; The latter one has tenons at both ends and is connected with the former one to form a headband; Crouching tiger, sheep and horse are embossed on the left and right near the human ear, and the rest are three interlaced rope patterns.

The crown is exquisite in craftsmanship, elegant and elegant, and has obvious characteristics of northern equestrian national decoration. It is the most representative artistic treasure among Xiongnu relics. In the tomb of Xiongnu in Aragou, Toksun County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a Jin Hu-patterned round ornament was also found, which was about 6 cm in diameter and weighed 265438±0.2g Another Hu Jin striped ornament was 26.5cm long, 3.5cm wide and weighed 27.7g. ..

These gold ornaments not only have individual images, but also have a variety of animal components, such as tigers, cows, tigers, tigers and deer. Taking the fight between animals as the decorative style, it breaks the neat and standardized decorative layout of the upper culture of Xiajiadian.

The gold double animal tablets found in Xiongnu Tomb near Xigou, Zhungeer Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, are 13cm long, 10cm wide and weigh 291.4g. The animal images are mainly realistic, and some are exaggerated and abstract. Animal reversal and monster modeling are also influenced by the nomadic culture Scotty culture distributed in the northern shore of the Black Sea and the North Caucasus.

These objects show that the northern gold and silver wares used techniques such as beating, stamping, inlaying, carving and casting. And the manufacturing technology and decorative skills have reached a high level, no less than the Central Plains.

Judging from the artistic characteristics and production technology of gold and silver vessels, there are great differences between the north and the south, with different styles. After the Warring States period, Chu culture and Qin culture had great influence. Among the tombs in the Central Plains, the most representative ones are Qin Tomb in Yimen Village, Baoji, Shaanxi, Jincun Tomb in Luoyang, Henan, Wei Tomb in Huixian Village, Henan, and Zhongshan King Tomb in Pingshan, Hebei.

A silver belt hook embedded with jade and glass was unearthed from the Eastern Zhou Wei cemetery in Huixian Village, Henan Province. The side image of the hook is curved like a bridge, and the top view is the pipa style popular at that time. Length 18.4cm, middle width 4.9cm. It is carved with silver and covered with gold. Animal heads with opposite relief directions at both ends. Animals have horns on their heads and ears like flat rings.

The narrow end of the hook is inlaid with a duck-billed white jade hook, and the mouth, eyes and other details are engraved with yinxian. The back of the hook is inlaid with three white jade jadeites with hub patterns, and the center of the two jadeites at both ends is inlaid with a dragonfly eye glass bead. Two dragons and two parakeets are embossed on both sides of the hook back, circling around. Part of the hook was cut open and some parts were marked with black paint.

The hook technology is complex and the decorative patterns are rich, which shows the superb level of metal technology in the Warring States period. This belt hook is a rare large silver belt hook. Huixian belonged to Wei during the Warring States Period, and this hook should be owned by Wei nobles.

In addition, three pieces of jade belt and gold belt hooks were found in the Zhou tomb at the end of the Warring States Period in Jincun, Luoyang, Henan. The gold belt hook is like a monster, and the jade is inlaid with dragon patterns, which is rare in the world.

The gold belt hooks found in the tomb of Qin Dynasty in the Spring and Autumn Period in Gaozhuang, Fengxiang, Shaanxi Province, and the two gold belt hooks and eight silver belt hooks found in the tomb of Qi in Langjiazhuang, Linzi, Shandong Province are small and plain, and the hooks are shaped like horse heads or duck heads. They belong to the late Spring and Autumn Period and are the earliest gold and silver hooks in China.

Gold and silver hooks were found in the tomb of Zhongshan King in Pingshan, Hebei Province, and the gold staggered phoenix iron hooks in the tomb of Chu Mountain in Jiangling were 46 cm long. Such a big hook is rare.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the appearance of a large number of misplaced gold and silver wares almost became a symbol of the highly developed technology in this period.

From the Shang Dynasty to the end of the Warring States Period, in the long years of 1000, the people of the Central Plains seemed to have been addicted to the brilliance of bronzes, and the use of gold and silver was limited to decorative bronzes. Therefore, China's earlier wrong gold and silver technology appeared.

The Warring States Tomb in Pingshan County, Hebei Province is the tomb of the mysterious Sun Yat-sen country during the Warring States Period, and some scattered gold and silver wares were found in one corner of the tomb.

For example, on the surface of a pair of beasts, endless stripes are inlaid with silver pieces and silver wires of different thicknesses to enhance the mystery of the beasts. After thousands of years of burial, the once dazzling bronzes have turned black, but the wrong gold and silver on them are still shining.

The so-called wrong gold and wrong silver is to first punch a groove with a wrong gold and silver pattern on the bronze model, and then press the gold and silver wire into the groove after the casting of the object is completed.

For example, the plan of bronze, gold, silver, four dragons and four phoenixes in the tomb of King Zhongshan in the Warring States Period was first created with physical modeling in the Warring States Period. It is 47.5 cm long, 47 cm wide and 36.2 cm high. In the lower part of the scheme, there are four sika deer lying on their sides, their limbs curled up and their bases are round.

The middle part is on the arc surface of the ring seat, and four dragons stand in four directions. Four dragons have only one head and two tails. Between the dragon body and the ring, there is a phoenix, which leads its neck to sing and spreads its wings to fly. The upper dragon crown bucket arch bears a scheme frame, and the bucket arch and the case frame are decorated with moire.

The case is dynamic and static, and the density is appropriate. A special picture of dragon and phoenix dancing came to my eyes. The surface of the scheme used to be painted board, which has decayed and does not exist, leaving only the copper case seat. Its modeling is both internal and external, which breaks through the traditional method of bronze animal modeling based on relief or round carving since Shang and Zhou Dynasties. In addition, there is a bucket arch on each of the four faucets, which vividly reproduces the bucket arch shape in the Warring States Period for the first time. The whole pattern is decorated with gold and silver into a gorgeous pattern.

This device is complex in shape, and each part is cast separately and then riveted and welded. In some places, the curvature is large, and it is cast by combined casting or lost wax method. The inscription 10 is engraved on the edge of the case frame: "Fourteen Sacrifices, Right Car, Afuguo, Gongtan". The overall structure of this device is complex and decent, the casting process is exquisite, the animal shape is beautiful and vivid, and it is a rare treasure.

Although the distribution area of gold and silver wares was obviously expanded during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, almost all the earliest known gold and silver wares came from the areas ruled by Chu, and few gold and silver wares were found in the Central Plains and other vassal countries, which indicates that Chu people may have mastered the technology of gold and silver smelting and manufacturing at the earliest.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, although the number of gold and silver vessels found in the south of China was small, they were very noticeable. The most important discovery is a batch of gold wares found in the tomb of Zeng Houyi, Sui County, Hubei Province. Among them, there are as many as 950 pieces of gold foil, most of which are attached to the utensils for decoration, but they are scattered throughout the tomb due to the corrosion of the utensils. These gold foils are also embossed with various patterns.

Five gold wares were also found in the tomb of Zeng Houyi: a golden lamp, a spoon, a cup, a lampshade and a hook. The gold cup with cover and the gold colander should be a set, and the gold cup with cover weighs 2 156 grams, which is the highest in the pre-Qin period.

Among them, the height of the gold cup is 1 1cm, and the caliber is 15. 1cm. The die casting process is still used. There is a ring buckle at the center of the top of the lid, and there are two side clips at the edge of the lid, which can be buckled with the cup. There are S-shaped chicken feet at the bottom of the golden cup, and there are two symmetrical ring ears near the mouth of the cup. The top of the cup cover and the outer edge of the cup mouth are both complex castings.

The overall shape, decorative pattern and decorative pattern layout of the golden lantern not only absorbed some characteristics of the bronze tripod, but also had its own creativity. Ring-shaped ears and "S"-shaped chicken feet are light and delicate, and the lamp is hemispherical, and only the mouth of the lamp has ring-shaped ornamentation, so the lamp body is not heavy, but the shape and dense ornamentation of the lampshade are ring-shaped, and the lampshade is slightly larger than the mouth of the lamp, giving people a strong sense of majesty.

A gold dagger with a built-in hole. The dagger's blade is round, the hole is carved with variant dragon patterns, the handle is square, and the blade surface is flat, with a total length of 13cm and a weight of 56.4504g g. ..

The gold cup found at the same time with the gold cup is barrel-shaped, with an open waist, a flat bottom and a cover. There are two symmetrical ring ears above the abdomen, and there are no lines all over the body. The cup wall is thick, and the lid is round and arched. The height of the cup holder is 10.65cm, the diameter is 8. 1cm and the weight is 789.9g. Made by hammering technology, it was also a heavy weapon in the pre-Qin period.

In addition, two gold covers were found; There is no body, one big and one small, arched, with pockmarked patterns on the cover and several weeks of patterns. Daguitong is 2.5cm in height, 9.5cm in diameter and weighs 327.65g. The small cover is 2.2 cm in height, 7.5 cm in diameter and weighs157.35g..

The gold belt hook of the tomb of Zeng Houyi was found in the main coffin of the East Chamber, and its shape was complete. Hook goose has a head shape, a long and flat neck and a smooth face, all of which are 4.4 cm long and weigh 40.9 g, 43.2 g, 45.5 g and 46.6 g respectively.

There are 10 kinds of gold foils with different shapes, such as circle, semicircle, arc, square, rectangle, triangle, trapezoid, laurel and double groove. Most of the surfaces are printed with various geometric patterns, and the composition is simple, and a few light elements have no ornamentation. The thickness is 0.037-0.378 mm, generally 0. 1-0.2 mm, and the weight is 20-30 mg per square centimeter. Probably used to paste lead and tin ornaments.

In particular, there are 462 sections of gold spring-shaped objects in the tomb of Zeng Houyi, all made of gold wire. The number of turns of each gold reed is generally 18 to 25, the length is about 2 cm, the warping is 0.4 to 0.5 cm, the diameter of gold wire is 0. 1 0 to 0.5 cm, and the gold content is 87.4%.

These metal spring-like devices are called "silkworm-shaped devices", which are formed by winding metal wires made by wire drawing process, because there are traces of stretching on the surface of the gold wires, and these traces of stretching are also consistent with the length direction of the metal wires.

From the method of making the golden lantern found in the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Suixian County, Hubei Province, that is, casting the button, cover, body and foot separately, and then casting them together, and using a large number of common decorative patterns of bronzes, we can see that the gold and silver technology at that time was developed on the basis of drawing lessons from the traditional bronze technology.

During the Warring States period, silverware was already produced. For example, a bronze lamp with a silver head was found in the tomb of Wang Cheng Zhongshan in Shan Zhi Township, Pingshan County, Hebei Province. The statue is 66.4 cm high, 52.5 cm wide and 25.6 cm high. This lamp is the image of a statue of a young man holding the lamp.

Male figurines stand on square seats with animal designs, with a silver head, a firm bun, fine hair, scarves and suspenders, thick eyebrows and short beards, jewel-like eyes, flat face and high cheekbones, and a smile.

Silver-haired male figurines are dressed in scarlet robes with wide sleeves, and their belts are connected by hooks. He held a pair of clams with open arms, a lamppost in his right hand and a kiss on his head. The column body is decorated with black clams and triangular patterns, and there is a monkey playing with dragons, and there is a lamp plate at the top of the column; The left hand curled outward and supported a lamp tray with a kiss on the head. There is a big lamp plate below, which surrounds the inner edge of the plate and kisses the head in the middle of the top. There are three candles on each lamp board.

This device combines practicality and decoration organically, with meticulous description and ingenious conception. The technology of combining silver and copper is very rare in China, so it is designated as a national treasure.

In addition, the silver plate engraved in 300 BC in the suburb of Changsha, Hunan Province is also very famous.