Set of six fittings which once graced the yoke of a chariot. Their exact original location on the horse’s yoke can be seen on one of the photos. The set consists of three yoke finials, two rein brackets and one rein ring. All are inlaid with silver and marked ‘Ling Li’. Not much is exactly known about ‘Ling Li’. In the collection of Gustaf Adolf, crown prince of Sweden was a chariot fitting with the inscription ‘Ling Li Guo Shi’ which has been translated as ‘the family Guo of Ling Li village’. Did the artisans of Ling Li village perhaps receive authorization to mark their products as they were of superior quality? This practice could be comparable to marks on high quality porcelains made in the imperial porcelain city Jingdezhen. Regina Krahl, former acting curator at the British Museum, mentions that ‘Ling Li’ is the name of a road leading to Maoling (40 kms to the west of Xian), the mausoleum of Emperor Han Wudi who reigned China from 141-87 BC. There are more than twenty attendant tombs of different sizes located around the Maoling Mausoleum. According to historical records, most of these tombs were of generals, concubines, relatives of royal families and others who had rendered service during the reign of Emperor Wu Di. According to the late Dr Thomas Lawton, internationally esteemed scholar of Chinese art, the earliest reference to Lingli appeared in the biography of a Western Han dynasty official, Shi Fen (d. 124 BC), who retired to Lingli after a long official career. In the biography Lingli is identified as a village near Maoling County, located in the present-day Xingping City, Shaanxi province. Maoling County was allegedly established to the southeast of the mausoleum of Han Emperor Wudi and developed into a residential area known for its extravagant lifestyle, with a population of over 270,000 housing many wealthy elites. Did these yoke fittings come from an accompanying grave of Maoling? They date from the Western Han period (206BC – 25AD). The yoke finials of our set have a height of 4.0 cm and a diameter of 4.2 cm. The rein brackets have a width of 7.5 cm and a height of 4.8 cm. The ring has a diameter of 5.0 cm. Also in our collection are another pair of ‘Ling Li’ rein brackets (See Quick Find 4811) as well as a pair of chariot post finials (Quick Find 4810). We were rather surprised to find on the internet a set of exactly the same composition (see last photo) in the collection of Jules Speelman, London. This set is inlaid with gold and silver and according to Speelman marked with the characters ‘Qu Shi’. Was this perhaps misread as ‘Ling Li’ which may be more likely.