Page 48 - 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 VERY RARE AND IMPORTANT GOLD FELINE-HEAD FINIAL
SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD, 6TH-EARLY 5TH CENTURY BC
The fnial is fnely cast and engraved as a tiger or other feline head with A virtually identical gold fnial in the collection of Mr. and Mrs.
glaring eyes and scrolling brows above a large snarling mouth, above the Richard C. Bull was included in the exhibition, Chinese Art, Venice,
heart-shaped ears. Imitation granulation is used to highlight the various 1954, no. 101 (as from Frank Caro, New York, successor to C.
features and also to border the two bands of detached scrolls that T. Loo) and in the exhibition, Early Chinese Gold & Silver, China
encircle the tube which is pierced on either side for attachment. House Gallery, New York, 1971, no. 7, and was subsequently sold at
Sotheby’s New York, 6 December 1983, lot 71. Another very similar
1º in.(3.2 cm.) high; weight 34 g fnial is illustrated with the Kempe fnial in Exhibition of Chinese
$60,000-80,000 Arts, C. T. Loo & Co., New York, 1941-1942, no. 221, where the two
are described as a pair.
PROVENANCE The narrow bands of dots that highlight the various features and
C. T. Loo & Co., New York, before 1941. form the borders of the two bands of scrolls encircling the tubular
Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967) Collection, Sweden, before 1953, neck of the Kempe fnial appear to be imitating the granulation
no. CK4. technique which was introduced into China from the Near East.
Sotheby’s London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork. That type of granulation was created by difusion bonding tiny
Early Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008, lot 13. gold spheres to the surface. The type of imitation granulation that
decorates the present fnial can also be seen on two other pieces
EXHIBITED
of Spring and Autumn date (770-475 BC) illustrated by Carol
Toledo, Ohio, The Toledo Museum of Art, Ancient Chinese Bronzes and
Michaelson, Gilded Dragons: Buried Treasures from China’s Golden
Chinese Jewelry, 9 February-2 March 1941, no. 95 (one of a pair).
Ages, British Museum, 1999: one a small gold garment hook with
New York, C. T. Loo & Co., Exhibition of Chinese Arts, 1 November 1941-30
duck-head hook excavated in 1992 at Yimen village, Baoji, Shaanxi
April 1942, no. 221 (one of a pair).
province, p. 27, no. 5 (left), the other the turquoise-inlaid gold hilt
Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, Chinese Gold & Silver in the
of an iron sword, p. 31, no. 9, from the same excavation.
Carl Kempe Collection, 1954-55, cat. no. 4.
New York, Asia House Gallery, Chinese Gold, Silver and Porcelain. The
春秋 金虎首形飾
Kempe Collection, 1971, cat. no. 3, an exhibition touring the United States
and shown also at nine other museums.
LITERATURE
The Toledo Museum of Art, Ancient Chinese Bronzes and Chinese
Jewelry, Toledo, 1941, no. 95 (one of a pair, on right in illustration).
C. T. Loo & Co., Exhibition of Chinese Arts, New York, 1941, no. 221 (one of
a pair, on right in illustration).
Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection,
Stockholm, 1953, cat. no. 4.
Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art
and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 4.

Fig. 1 The present finial (right), as published in. C.T. Loo ,
Exhibition of Chinese Arts, 1941-1942. (source)Photographer
unknown.

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