Belt Plaque with Three Ibexes

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

An interest in real animals in naturalistic settings characterizes the designs found on belt ornaments made for the Xiongnu, a powerful confederacy that controlled much of eastern Central Asia in the third and second century B.C. On this plaque, two ibexes with their bodies in profile and their heads shown frontally stand to either side of a third figure. The animals inhabit a wooded setting. The foreleg of each flanking ibex is raised and hooked over a branch of tree trunk. The remains of a curved hook on the right side of the plaque indicate that it would have been paired with a matching piece to form a complete belt buckle.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art