# Mask from a Horse Bridle

- By: China
- Date: Western Zhou dynasty ( 1046–771 BC ), about 9th century BC
- Medium: Bronze
- Classification: Metalwork
- Dimensions: 26.5 × 27.5 × 0.3 cm (10 3/8 × 10 3/4 × 3/32 in.)
- Culture: China
- Credit line: Lucy Maud Buckingham Collection
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/86423)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/4c27a302-290b-5243-e301-6e7e74704fc7/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

This sheet of hammered bronze was attached to cloth or leather as part of an elaborate bridle. The mask was placed on the horse's forehead, between the ears. Similar plaques have been excavated from the trappings of horses and chariots that were buried in trenches adjacent to aristocratic tombs in present-day Xi'an, the site of the Western Zhou capital.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0