895 - A rare belt plaque of nomadic horsemen from the Ordos region, depicting two wrestlers flanked by horses, Mongolia, 2nd–1st centuries B.C.

A rare belt plaque of nomadic horsemen from the Ordos region, depicting two wrestlers flanked by horses, Mongolia, 2nd–1st centuries B.C. On either side of the plaque are two horses facing inward, bridled and saddled with richly decorated harnesses, standing before trees whose branches and leaves spread out behind the horses toward the upper edge and converge in the center. Between the two horses are two wrestlers locked in a grapple. The man on the left, clean-shaven, has his upper body bent downward to the right while his legs remain slightly extended. From the right, a second wrestler with long hair and a beard, in a deep kneeling stance with his right leg extended backward, attacks the left wrestler from diagonally below. With his left hand, he grasps his opponent’s right thigh; with his right hand, he wraps around his opponent’s torso and reaches from the left toward his right hip. The wrestler on the left uses his right hand to grasp his opponent’s left hip from beneath his upper arm and, reaching up from below through his legs, grips the underside and side of his left thigh. The horses’ hooves and the wrestlers’ feet, arranged in a row, rhythmically frame the lower edge of the plaque, mirroring the row of leaves at the upper edge of the plaque. The balanced composition represents a masterpiece of Steppe nomadic small-scale sculpture from the last centuries before the turn of the era. At the same time, the horseshoe is an example of a motif that, in an identical composition—albeit with subtle differences in quality and stylistic execution—is exhibited as a showpiece of Steppe nomadic art on individual horseshoes in leading museums around the world (e.g., the British Museum, the Ethnological Museum in Berlin, the Shanghai Museum, and the Museum of the Archaeological Institute in Ulaanbaatar). An exemplar of the same type, with variations in detail, was sold at Sotheby’s in 2019 (Arts of Ancient China II, Lot 216) for $12,500. This type of plaque is associated with sites within the territory of the Xiongnu, who are mentioned in Chinese sources. As early as the reign of the first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, military campaigns were waged against this tribal confederation, and these continued into the Han Dynasty. The Russian researcher Grjasnov linked the scene to episodes from the heroic epics of modern Turkic peoples of Central Asia, whose origins he believed he could trace back to the 8th century B.C. Even today, wrestling remains one of the three disciplines in which a man was expected to excel: horseback riding, archery, and wrestling. The plaque may thus serve as an iconic representation of the values of Eurasian steppe nomads. Partial, minimal ancient wear; over this, a beautiful green patina with bluish spots. The reverse side is hollowed out to conserve material. Intact. 11.2 cm x 5.9 cm. Removably mounted on a representative Plexiglas base. CULTURAL HERITAGE! Provenance: German private collection; acquired in 2021 on the British art market. Condition: I -