“Top of the world” tile

[“Jiatianxia” tile]

“Jiatianxia” tile, Western Han Dynasty, 19.8 cm in diameter
Western Han Dynasty tile, ceramic. Tile is a building material, covering the top edge of palaces, temples or other buildings, with the hanging side facing outward, so it is called “Dang”, which means orientation. Tile faces are usually round, with patterns, characters, or both on them. They are important objects for studying patterns, characters, and building components. The upper part of the tile face is a horse and a deer pattern, which is juxtaposed on the left and right sides, and the lower part is “Jiatianxia” with three characters protruding, with seal script body. “A” is the synonym of the first when it is used as the preface number. “The North Que is the first, and the way is straight.” In the Selected Works, Zhang Heng’s “Ode to Xijing”, Li Shanzhu quoted Xue Zong as saying “A is the first.”. “Top of the world” means to show status
Recorded: The best in the world.

“甲天下”瓦当拓片