Bronze object inlaid with silver. It is the butt plate of a crossbow and dates from the Warring States (475 – 221BC) to the Western Han period (206BC – 25AD). Inlaid bronze crossbow butt plates are rare as only influential and wealthy persons could afford them. The average crossbow butt was made of wood and not inlaid with precious materials. The crossbow belonging to one of the two bronze miniature chariots found in the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, was fitted with a butt plate inlaid with silver and gold. Height 5.6 cm.