AN OPENWORK GOLD SHEET APPLIQUÉ

EASTERN HAN-EARLY SIX DYNASTIES PERIOD, 1ST-3RD CENTURY AD

Details

AN OPENWORK GOLD SHEET APPLIQUÉ
EASTERN HAN-EARLY SIX DYNASTIES PERIOD, 1ST-3RD CENTURY AD
The very thin gold sheet of rectangular form has a cut-out design of two stags confronted on a central row of three stacked rings.
2 ¾ in. (7 cm.) wide, framed

Provenance

Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967) Collection, Sweden, before 1953, no. CK31.
Sotheby's London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork. Early Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008, lot 5.

Literature

Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, cat. no. 31.
Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 29.

Exhibited

Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, 1954-55, cat. no. 31.

Lot Essay

The design of this gold sheet applaqué appears to be based on that of bronze belt plaques, such as the example in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, illustrated by Emma C. Bunker et al., Ancient Bronzes of the Eurasian Steppes, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1997, p. 280, pl. 248, where the central motif is described as a twisted bush-like form. The author also illustrates, fig. 248, a gold plaque of the same design excavated at a Xianbei site in Sandaowan, Chayouhou banner, Inner Mongolia.

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