這件精湛鑄造的青銅重器體現了中國藝術在公元前二世紀左右的轉變，藝術家開始構思和創造具有解剖準確性和自然細節的立體雕塑，有別於前一時期僵硬的正面或側面描繪。
奇美拉（chimera）是一種傳說中的野獸，融合了獅子的特徵與想像中獅鷲（格里芬，griffin）的屬性。這個主題起源於美索不達米亞的藝術，從巴比倫開始，經由中亞傳到中國，證明了古代中國與西方文明之間的頻繁接觸與交流。
This masterfully cast bronze weight exemplifies a transformation in Chinese art around the second century B.C., when artists began to conceive and create three-dimensional sculptures with anatomical accuracy and naturalistic details that are distinct from the stiffly frontal or profile depictions of the previous period.
A legendary beast, the chimera melds the features of a lion with the attributes of the imaginary griffin. The subject originated in Mesopotamian art, starting from Babylon and traveling to China by way of Central Asia, evidence of the frequent contact and exchange between ancient China and Western civilizations.
美國明尼阿波利斯博物館亞洲部主任柳揚博士的專文《秦藝術異質媒介間的互動與革新》中也多次介紹了秦代金器中的格里芬。
藝術史的一個重要現象，乃是藝術中的某些強勢的形式和風格，會超越具體的藝術種類，成為滲透於不同藝術媒介的普遍存在。有些尤其突出的形式和風格，甚至成為一種藝術精神，蔓延於一定空間和時間範圍內的各種類型的藝術之中。秦人早期的藝術，為我們觀察這種現象，提供了絕好的標本。
異質媒介間的互動、影響與交融，發生在秦人的青銅器、金銀器、玉器及陶器等主要藝術門類之間。它們可以是器物造型的互相模仿、母題和紋飾運用上的趨同，以及整體的藝術風格上的向心力。有時我們還能見到，秦地流行的藝術形式和風格，能跨越地域，和其它方國以及不同文化和族群的藝術之間發生的更為複雜的相互交流、影響、融合、和革新。
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漢 銅鎏金獸形蓆鎮
徑 6.7 厘米
A GILT BRONZE ‘QILIN’ MAT WEIGHT
Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – A.D. 220)
heavily cast in the form of a winged feline beast with head twisted to one side and mouth open in a fierce snarl, with knobbed antlers curled back from the forehead and inlaid turquoise staring eyes, the compact muscular body with short wings at the shoulders and a thick curling tail at the rump, the surface enlivened with incised linear details and ring motifs, the feet with sharp claws planted firmly on the circular base cast with a border of wave-like striated peaks, richly gilded all over, the underside flat and plain.
Diameter 2 5⁄8 inches (6.7 cm)
Provenance
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Richard C. Bull, acquired from Mathias Komor Gallery, New York, early 1950s
Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, Important Chinese Works of Art: the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Richard C. Bull, 6 December 1983, lot 59
Exhibited / Published
The Chinese Art Society of America, Small Sculptures: Shang through Sung Dynasties, China House Gallery, New York, February 19 – April 17, 1954, no. 38
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1954
Metropolitan Museum, Chinese Metalwork, New York, 1966
A very similar gilt bronze winged feline beast without the circular base, from the collection of Frederick M. Mayer is illustrated by Dubosc, Mostra d’arte Cinese: Settimo centenario di Marco Polo (Marco Polo Seventh Centenary Exhibition of Chinese Art), Venice, 1954, no. 160.
Compare also the bronze qilin-form weight illustrated by Du (ed.), Gugong bowuyuan cang wenwu zhenpin daxi: qingtong shenghuo qi (The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Bronze Articles for Daily Use), Shanghai, 2007, p. 163, no. 141.
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