This ornament has a function. It is both decorative and fastens the girth to the side pieces near where the rein guides attach to the harbess. The gold is fashioned in the shape of a mystical animal with the horns of a ram, a sign of verility and power in ancient China. |
http://hua.umf.maine.edu/China/xian2.html
Last
update: March 2010
© Marilyn Shea, 2010