Dog-shaped Paperweight
Unknown Artist
676–935
Medium
gilt bronze
Dimensions
5 × 2.7 cm, l. 8.8 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Korean Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Robert H. Ellsworth in honor of Sherman E. Lee
Accession Number
1987.160
About this artwork
This small object in the shape of a hybrid dog-lion is believed to have been used as a paperweight. Since the Three Kingdoms period (57 BC−668), mercury amalgam gilding had been widely employed to embellish metal objects as well as to make their surface resistant to acids. This technique involves mixing pure gold powder with liquid mercury to form a paste-like mixture. As heat is applied, the mercury evaporates, but an opaque layer of gold remains on the surface. This coating must be polished by...