Page 54 - 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 PAIR OF SMALL GOLD ‘TIGER-MASK’ ORNAMENTS A SET OF FOUR ORNAMENTAL GOLD FRAGMENTS
NORTHWEST CHINA, 5TH-4TH CENTURY BC OR LATER EASTERN HAN-SIX DYNASTIES PERIOD, 3RD-4TH CENTURY AD
Each small, rounded gold sheet ornament is worked in repoussé as a tiger Each fragment is chased with a dragon with large head and coiled tail
head with bulging eyes and pointed ears, the tiger’s stripes indicated by shown in profle and decorated with granulation, with some raised and
curved grooves. openwork areas.
Each 1 in. ( 2.6 cm.) wide; weight 2.7 and 2.5 g (2) Each 1¿ in. (2.8 cm.) wide; total weight 20 g; wood base (4)

$6,000-8,000 $2,000-3,000
PROVENANCE PROVENANCE
Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967) Collection, Sweden, before 1953, Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967) Collection, Sweden, before 1953,
no. CK30. no. CK15.
Sotheby’s London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork. Sotheby’s London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork.
Early Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008, lot 10. Early Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008, lot 35.
EXHIBITED EXHIBITED
Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, Chinese Gold & Silver in the Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, Chinese Gold & Silver in the
Carl Kempe Collection, 1954-55, cat. no. 30. Carl Kempe Collection, 1954-55, cat. no. 15.
LITERATURE LITERATURE
Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection,
Stockholm, 1953, cat. no. 30. Stockholm, 1953, cat. no. 15.
Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art
and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 28. and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 14.

These fne masks are similar in detail to the heads of the four tigers 東漢/六朝 金鏤空龍紋飾殘片一組四件
seen attacking an ox, which form the decoration of four rectangular
gold plaques found in the cache of gold and silver at Aluchaideng, Ih
Ju League, Inner Mongolia in 1972, which is dated late Warring States
period. One of these plaques is illustrated by Yang Junchang, Paul Jett
and Chen Jianli, Gold in Ancient China: 2000-200 BCE, Beijing, 2017, p. 518
216, Fig. 4-35 b, along with other gold ornaments from the cache. The
authors describe the ornamental plaques as having been made of beaten A CIRCULAR GOLD ORNAMENT
gold sheet “whose motifs were inspired by diferent animals.” WARRING STATES PERIOD (475-221 BC)

公元前五/前四世紀或以後 金虎首形飾一對 The circular ornament is shaped as a fat ring and has a textured surface
on one side.
1¿ in. (2.9 cm.) diam.; weight 4 g
$1,000-1,500
PROVENANCE
Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967) Collection, Sweden, before 1953,
no. CK10.
Sotheby’s London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork.
Early Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008, lot 8.
EXHIBITED
Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, Chinese Gold & Silver in the
Carl Kempe Collection, 1954-55, cat. no. 10.

LITERATURE
Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection,
Stockholm, 1953, cat. no. 10.
Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art
and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 9.
戰國 金環飾
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