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Crossbow crank
Crossbow crank

Crossbow crank

Place of OriginChina
Dateapprox. 300-221 BCE
PeriodEastern Zhou period (770–256 BCE) or later
MaterialsBronze
DimensionsH. 7 1/8 in x W. 6 3/4 in x D. 4 1/4 in, H. 20.3 cm x W. 16.5 cm x D. 10.8 cm
Credit LineThe Avery Brundage Collection
Object numberB60B11
DepartmentChinese Art
ClassificationsArms And Armament
On View
On view
LocationGallery 14
More Information
This device was designed to pull the strings on a powerful crossbow. It is rare and there are no known excavated examples to provide a date. While some experts have suggested this object is about twenty-two hundred years old, others have argued that it was made several centuries later.
Crossbow mechanism
206 BCE-9 CE
Spear-handle finial
approx. 300-221 BCE
Spear-handle finial
approx. 300-221 BCE
Spear-handle finial
approx. 300-221 BCE
Spear-handle finial
approx. 300-221 BCE
Shaft fitting
approx. 300-221 BCE
Chariot fitting
approx. 400-221 BCE
Ax (yue)
approx. 1300-1050 BCE
Dagger-ax (qi)
approx. 1300-1050 BCE
Blade (ge)
approx. 1100-900 BCE