Within the collections of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, are a number of gold and gold foil-covered objects that are attributed to the late Eastern Zhou period in China. A group of these objects consisting of twenty-one fragments of gold foil, some of which retain remnants of a bronze support, have been under investigation as part of a larger study of ancient Chinese gold. This paper describes three aspects of the study of the fragments. First, the method of manufacture and decoration of the foil and its backing are described. Second, the original form and nature of the fragments are discussed. Finally, the results of the elemental analysis using x-ray fluorescence and trace element analysis using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry are presented. It was found that hammering and inscribing, not casting, were used to form the fragments of gold sheet and their bronze backings. It also was determined that many of the fragments originally were parts of one type of plaque whose form was that of a writhing dragon or snake, similar in nature to the design used to decorate the surface of the fragments. Compositional analysis of the gold performed using energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometry on the surface of the fragments shows that the pieces have the same gross alloy composition: 92-94% gold, 6-7% silver, and less than 1% copper. Trace element analysis indicates two, or perhaps three, groupings of the gold according to the ratios between their platinum and palladium contents.