Page 148 - 2019 September 12th Christie's New York Chiense Art Masterpieces of Chinese Gold and Silver

573

A VERY RARE GOLD HEADDRESS
7TH-9TH CENTURY
LITERATURE
The semi-circular headdress is cast at each end in repoussé with a Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection,
galloping horse with small antlers and fowing mane above two circular Stockholm, 1953, cat. no. 42.
loops pendent from the lower edge and another in front of the mouth. Bo Gyllensvärd, ‘T’ang Gold and Silver’, Bulletin of the Museum of Far
Between the two horses is a band of foral diaper pattern centered by a Eastern Antiquities, No. 29, Stockholm, 1957, fgs. 41a, 53d and 87e.
large, repoussé rosette, and on the reverse are six small horizontal tubes Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art
below the upper edge. and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 40.
12º in. (31 cm.) wide; weight 107.3 g; leather box The decorative motifs of this very rare gold headdress are representative
of the cultural exchanges that informed the art of the nomadic peoples
$60,000-80,000
of the northern steppes during the Tang-dynasty period. The infuences
came from not only Central Asia and South Asia, but also the Tang
PROVENANCE empire and the nomads themselves, with their focus on horses and the
Dr. Friedrich Perzyński Collection, Rissen/Holstein, Germany, other animals with which they were familiar.
before 1929.
Paul Cassirer/Hugo Helbing Berlin, Chinesische Goldgegenstände und The nomadic reliance on horses is refected in the depiction of the
Textilien aus dem Besitze von Dr. Friedrich Perzyński, Rissen-Holstein, horses that decorate each end of the headdress. They are shown not
15 May 1929, lot 11. only in a gallop but almost as if fying, their speed implied by the position
Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967) Collection, Sweden, before 1953, of the legs, the wind-blown manes, the open mouths and their intense
no. CK42. expressions. There is also something mythical about their representation,
Sotheby’s London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork. which includes the small fames on the sides and the small antler-
Early Gold and Silver. 14 May 2008, lot 90. like horns. Winged horses with bifurcated horns are included with
other mythical winged animals depicted on the gold saddle fttings
EXHIBITED illustrated by Jenny F. So, Radiant Legacy: Ancient Chinese Gold from the
Berlin, Preussische Akademie der Künste und Gesellschaft für Mengdiexuan Collection, vol. II, Hong Kong, 2013, pp. 40-49, where the
Ostasiatische Kunst, Chinesische Kunst, 1929, cat. no. 432. fttings are dated 7th-9th century. Like the present headdress the fttings
Copenhagen, Dansk Kunstindustrimuseum, Kinas Kunst i Svensk og are gold sheet worked in repoussé.
Dansk eje, 1950, cat. no. 172.
Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, Chinese Gold & Silver in the The diaper pattern that decorates the band between the horses and the
Carl Kempe Collection, 1954-55, cat. no. 42. central rosette most likely shows the artistic infuence of Tang-dynasty
New York, Asia House Gallery, Chinese Gold, Silver and Porcelain. The China and imitates woven fabric with alternating ring-punched and
Kempe Collection, 1971, cat. no.17, an exhibition touring the United States stippled grounds. It is also very possible that the rosette was originally
and shown also at nine other museums. inlaid in the center, possibly with turquoise. The loops at the ends were
for the attachment of cords to secure the headdress and the loops at the
bottom edge and the small tubes on the reverse for the attachment of
various decorative elements.

七/九世紀 金錘鍱馬紋冠飾

(another view) The present headdress published in Auktionskatalogue Paul Cassier-Hugo Helbing:
Ostasiatische Textilien und Goldgegenstände aus dem Besitz des Herrn Dr. Friedrich
Peryznski Rissen-Holstein (Auction Catalogue Paul Cassier and Hugo Helbing), Berlin,
1929.