Very small bronze mechanism which once formed the trigger part of a miniature crossbow. The crossbow mechanism (see photo how it functioned) was a Chinese invention. In the Western Han period, official regulations were introduced which decreed that funerals should become less lavish. Full sized pottery tomb figures, as from the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, were no longer allowed and replaced by miniature versions. In the last photo is a pottery figure popularly called a ‘stickman’. These small figures were servants and soldiers meant to attend to their master in the afterlife. They originally had wooden arms which could hold implements such as weapons. The figures were dressed in miniature clothes just like full sized living servants. The clothes and arms of these small pottery replacements have rotted away long ago but the bronze weapons, chariot parts and other bronze implements have survived. This crossbow mechanism is one of them. It dates from the Western Han period (206BC – 25AD). (See also Quick Find 0325-1 and 0325-3) Length 4.6 cm. Height 6.6 cm.