Cranes and Serpents

A pair of lacquered wooden cranes with long, slender necks and red-painted bodies, their heads turned outward, rises from a coiled black serpent-like base. Gold and black decorative patterns cover the necks and wings, and the carved base rests on an oval plinth.

Look closer: Gold-painted scrollwork and fine patterns run along the crane necks and the coiled serpent body.

Artist

Unknown

Date

475–221 BCE

Medium

lacquered wood with polychromy

Source

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Size

2909 × 3400 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund