Page 31 - 2019 September 12th Christie's New York Chiense Art Masterpieces of Chinese Gold and Silver

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A CIRCULAR GOLD ORNAMENT A RARE GOLD PLAQUE
NORTHERN CHINA, 3RD CENTURY BC NORTHEAST CHINA, 1ST CENTURY BC-3RD CENTURY AD
The small ornament is chased as a convex disk and decorated with four The plaque is shaped as four animal heads, projecting from the corners,
stylized animal heads in relief, within a band of striations at the outer rim. with a highly abstract fgure in the center, and further decorated with two
raised oval bosses and cloisons.
1¿ in. (3 cm.) diam.; weight 11.6 g
2√ in. (7.4 cm.) wide; weight 41.6 g
$1,000-1,500
$10,000-15,000
PROVENANCE
Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967) Collection, Sweden, before 1953. PROVENANCE
no. CK27. Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967) Collection, Sweden, before 1953,
Sotheby’s London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork. no. CK33.
Early Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008, lot 9. Sotheby’s London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork.
Early Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008, lot 31.
EXHIBITED
Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, Chinese Gold & Silver in the EXHIBITED
Carl Kempe Collection, 1954-55, cat. no. 27. Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, Chinese Gold & Silver in the
Carl Kempe Collection, 1954-55, pl. 33.
LITERATURE
Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection,
Stockholm, 1953, cat. no. 27. LITERATURE
Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection,
and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 26. Stockholm, 1953, cat. no. 33.
Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art
公元前三世紀 金獸首紋環飾 and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 31.
This very rare plaque and a similar gold plaque found in Inner Mongolia
and illustrated in a line drawing by Qi Dongfang, Tangdai jin yin qi yan jiu
505 (Research on Tang Gold and Silver), Beijing, 1999, p. 240, fg. 2-81, are
similar in concept, albeit more abstract, to one of larger size (4 in. long)
of 3rd-4th century date excavated in 1990 at Horqin Zuoyizhong Banner,
A SMALL CAST GOLD ORNAMENT
NORTHERN CHINA, 3RD CENTURY BC Jerim League, Inner Mongolia, illustrated by James C. Y. Watt et al.,
China: Dawn of a Golden Age, 200-750 AD, The Metropolitan Museum
The outline of the lobed, rosette-like ornament is formed by six raptor of Art, New York, 2004, p. 129, no. 35. That plaque is cast in openwork
heads with raised eyes and long inward-pointing beaks. A squared loop as a female fgure fanked by two animals. Watt links the design of the
is on the concave reverse. plaque to an earlier hardstone-inlaid gold pendant of ca. 1st century BC
date excavated at Tillya Tepe, northern Afghanistan, illustrated p. 10, fg.
1 in. (2.6 cm.) diam.; weight 22.9 g
7, which depicts a more readily identifable design of a clothed female
$6,000-8,000 fgure with out-stretched arms fanked by two winged, gazelle-like
animals with turquoise-inlaid manes.
PROVENANCE
Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967) Collection, Sweden, before 1953, 公元前一/公元三世紀 金四獸首形飾
no. CK29.
Sotheby’s London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork.
Early Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008, lot 11.

EXHIBITED
Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, Chinese Gold & Silver in the
Carl Kempe Collection, 1954-55, cat. no. 29.

LITERATURE
Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection,
Stockholm, 1953, cat. no. 29.
Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art
and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 27.
A slightly smaller (2 cm. diam.) button of this design is illustrated by
Simon Kwan and Sun Ji, Chinese Gold Ornaments, Hong Kong, 2003,
pp. 162-63, pl. 24.
公元前三世紀 鑄金六鳥首形釦
29