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At 9 a.m., April 16th, a launching ceremony was held in Hebei Provincial Museum for historical relics displayed in Hebei Pavilion. The Gilt Bronze Human-shaped Lamp and Big Sculpture for Palace Gate are sent to Shanghai as first batch of rare historical relics.

The Gilt Bronze Human-shaped Lamp was unearthed in Han Tombs in Mancheng, Hebei province, whose Chinese name means the resting place of Empress Dowager in Western Han Dynasty. The Lamp has a height of 48 centimeters, with gilding all over it, showing the maid in imperial palace holding a lamp. The lamp was original designed that the right arm of the maid was a smoke-outing pipe which took soot in the body of the maid to maintain the cleanness of the room, stressing the notion of protecting the environment and proving that Chinese people are the earliest lamb shape inventors, users and solvers of the lamb pollution problem. In 1993, the Lamp was rated as National Treasure and it is the most precious relic in Hebei Provincial Museum.

Bronze with dragons and phoenix on it, the Big Sculpture for Palace Gate was unearthed in the Remains of Secondary Capital of Yan in Baoding, Hebei province. It is an annular sculpture with a length of 74.5 centimeters, width of 36.8 centimeters and weight of 21.5 kilograms.

All together eight animals are carved on the sculpture which combines the art of relief and openwork carving. The heads of the dragons, phoenix, and snakes are all protruding above the surface. It is guessed to be used for palace gate for its large body that rarely saw in China. It shows the excellent carving skill and it’s really an art treasure.

By Yan Li and Liu Xiang