Dimensions: Height: 10,8 cm Wide 22 cm Depth 10 cm
Weight: 967,8 grams

The cast bronze depicts a crouching beast with powerful legs and clawed feet, its body decorated with incised wing-like and scaly patterns. The open mouth holds a shallow bowl, while a stem-like fitting rises from its back, suggesting the piece once served as part of a lamp or ritual implement as well as a symbolic guardian figure. The creature combines leonine, draconic, and fantastical features, characteristic of composite animals in Han art, which were believed to protect and ward off malign forces. The surface shows a mottled green and brown patina with earthen accretions, softened edges, and areas of wear consistent with great age. Both protective emblem and functional ritual object, this beast embodies the Han dynasty’s blending of symbolic power with utilitarian design.