Page 28 - 2019 September 12th Christie's New York Chiense Art Masterpieces of Chinese Gold and Silver

MASTERPIECES OF EARLY CHINESE GOLD AND SILVER | 金紫銀青 - 中國早期金銀器粹珍

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A SMALL GOLD PLAQUE FIVE SMALL GOLD ‘STAG’ PLAQUES
NORTHEAST CHINA, 6TH-5TH CENTURY BC NORTHEAST CHINA, 6TH-5TH CENTURY BC
The circular plaque is fnely cast in openwork as a stylized coiled feline, Each plaque is fnely cast as a recumbent stag, the legs tucked under its
with two small horizontal, squared attachment loops on the body, and the upturned head with antlers formed by three rings. Four of
concave back. the plaques have fat backs set with small attachment loops while the
ffth is pierced through the muzzle for suspension.
1¿ in. (2.9 cm) wide; weight 6.8 g
1 in. (2.7 cm.) wide; total weight 24.3 g (5)
$7,000-9,000
$20,000-30,000

PROVENANCE
Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967) Collection, Sweden, before 1953, PROVENANCE
no. CK23 Sotheby’s London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork. Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967) Collection, Sweden, before 1953,
Early Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008, lot 3 (part). no. CK25 and CK26.
Sotheby’s London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork.
EXHIBITED
Early Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008, lot 2 and lot 3 (part).
Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, Chinese Gold & Silver in the
Carl Kempe Collection, 1954-55, cat. no. 23. EXHIBITED
Stag plaque: New York, Asia House Gallery, “Animal Style” Art from East Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, Chinese Gold & Silver in the
to West, 1970, cat. no. 129 (part). Carl Kempe Collection. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.,
1954-55, cat. nos. 25 and 26.
LITERATURE
New York, Asia House Gallery, “Animal Style” Art from East to West, 1970,
Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection,
cat. no. 129 (part).
Stockholm, 1953, cat. no. 23.
Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection. The Museum of Art LITERATURE
and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 22, Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection,
pl. 25. Stockholm, 1953, cat. nos. 25 and 26.
Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection. The Museum of Art
This superbly cast and fnished plaque is similar to two published and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999,
bronze examples. One is illustrated by Mayke Wagner and Herbert Butz pl. 24 and 25.
in Nomandenkunst: Ordosbronzen der Ostasiatischen Kunstsammlung,
Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Mainz, 2007, Ornamental plaques of this type would have served as personal
p. 46, no. 36, where it is ascribed to Northeast China, 9th-7th century ornaments for the people of the Dongbei (Northeast China) ca. 600 BC.
BC. The other is illustrated by Jessica Rawson and Emma Bunker, In most instances they would have been made of bronze, such as the
Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong set of twenty in the collection of Shelby White and Leon Levy illustrated
Kong, 1990, pp. 310-11, no. 192. Both of these have a single strap by Jenny F. So and Emma C. Bunker in Traders and Raiders on China’s
on the reverse. Northern Frontier, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington D.C., 1995, p.
160, no. 83, and again by Emma C. Bunker, Nomadic Art of the Eastern
公元前六/前五世紀 金鏤空豹形圓飾 Eurasian Steppes, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2002,
p. 158, no. 135. It is far more rare to fnd ornaments of this type made of
gold, which would have indicated the elevated status of the wearer.

公元前六/前五世紀 金鏤空蹲麈形飾一組四件

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