It is common in the Western imagination to think of China as somewhat separate, disconnected from the rest of the world. This is perhaps a side-effect of China’s isolationist policies of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (AD 1368 – AD 1912), when the Chinese insulated themselves from the voracious expansion of the European imperial powers by strictly limiting contact. But this was not the case in earlier periods of history, when China was a great cosmopolitan Empire, bustling with merchants and visitors from all over the known world. Early contacts between Han Dynasty () China and the Roman Empire, down what would later become the Silk Road, is often heralded as an example. But contacts far predated even the Romans. In the north of China, where Suiyuan is now located, a culture existed which mixed both Chinese and Euro-Iranian elements. This was the so-called Ordos Culture.

Intimately related to the steppe cultures of Central Asia, the Ordos Culture is sometimes considered a Far Eastern offshoot of the Saka Culture, one of the Skythian Groups which inhabited the region of Central Asia east of the Black Sea. Their huge domain – which stretched from northern India to Siberia – is famed for the remarkable metal finds which have emerged from the burial mounds (kurgans) of their elite. The Golden Warrior from the Issyk Kurgan (National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan) is an emblematic example of the detail and intricacy associated with Skythian metalworking from this region. The Saka bordered China, and an amount of Saka metalwork is known from pre-Han Chinese burial sites. But it was in the north of China, where the Ordos Culture emerged, that the real centre of Chinese-Skythian interaction occurred. A hybridised society, which combined at least Skythian and Chinese artistic elements, the Ordos Culture produced distinctive wares in metal which drew heavily on Skythian prototypes. These remarkable objects reflect both the Skythian and Chinese interest in representing the natural world around them: for the Skythians, a nomadic herding culture which followed the herds across the plains; for the later Chinese, who offer a good indication of what life was like for the Ordos Culture, almost every animal in their natural environment was associated with some kind of spiritual concept or philosophical ideal.

These belt buckle components take clear direction from the prevailing Skythian ‘Animal Style’, which dominated the metalworking of the plains. The style is characterised by lithe depictions of animals in well-studied poses, often in the midst of action, with tails and antlers which make extensive use of stylised loops not found in nature, and said to be inspired by the elaborate natural variations of reindeer antlers. One of the most important ‘action poses’ for the creatures of Animal Style art was combat or hunting; even relatively peaceful animals like deer are often engaged in combat, clashing antlers or biting each other’s necks. These belt buckle components show another common theme: the lion and its prey. Two slim, muscular, Asiatic lions (Panthera leo leo), formerly widespread across Asia and Europe but now confined to the Gir National Park in Gujarat, India, are depicted walking towards one another, with their prey locked in their powerful jaws. The prey, infant sika deer (Cervus nippon), hang limp from their mouths, their heads dramatically flopping against the back of their rumps. Both lions and deer are sympathetically rendered, realistically posed. Care has been taken to present the lions’ heavy paw pads, and the articulation of their jaw structure. Attention has also been given to the detail of the mane and the folds of fat and muscle. The wide eyes and flaring nostrils of the deer are also carefully designed. The tails of the lions are depicted as twisted rope, which is continued down in front of their faces; this provides the loops needed for attachment of the buckle to a belt fitting.