Page 30 - Chinese Art Auction April 25, 2020 2020 Galerie Zacke

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A gOld ‘sTAg-bIRd’ NOMAd chIeF cAP cResT,
NORThWesTeRN chINA, lATe 3Rd ceNTuRy bc
On a rectangular plinth with ruyi-shaped edges (one lost). The mythical and jewelry made by Han goldsmiths under Imperial command. The
animal is composed of a reclining stag with a raptor beak, distinct dominant sources of design for these can to some extent be traced back
spoon-shaped ears, scrolling antlers and tail, each terminating in to earlier Chinese cultures, but were also the animals and birds that
smaller raptor heads, the body and head finely incised and punched surrounded the nomadic people, including ibex, horses, stags, deer, rams,
with a floral pattern. tigers, wild boars and of course birds of prey. Sometimes also two of these
animals were combined to create a new kind of mythical being. Often the
animals are shown in a recumbent or kneeling position, creating a more
Provenance: Giuseppe Tucci. Claude Sciaky-Menasché, Venice, compact shape, essentially to be in accordance with Chinese cultural (and
acquired from the above, ca. 1980 (by repute). Dr. Koos de Jong, sometimes military) standards of the period. Even though there was a
acquired from the above in 2005 (by repute). greater use of gold and silver for ornamentation in these days, most of
Giuseppe Tucci (1894-1984) was an Italian Orientalist, Indologist and the ornaments were made of bronze. Within many of the Xiongnu tribes,
scholar of East Asian studies, specialized in Tibetan culture and history however, personal ornamentation made of gold was a sign of the very
of Buddhism. During his zenith, Tucci was a supporter of Italian Fascism, highest status. Such ornaments are therefore more rare than those made
and he used idealized portrayals of Asian traditions to support Italian of other metals.
ideological campaigns. Tucci was fluent in several European languages,
Sanskrit, Bengali, Pali, Prakrit, Chinese and Tibetan and he taught at the With an associated box. (2)
University of rome La Sapienza until his death. He is considered one
of the founders of the field of Buddhist
Studies. lITeRATuRe cOMPARIsON
Claude Sciaky-Menasché was an Italian A closely related cap crest is in the Museum for History
art dealer and the author of “Storia ed of Shaanxi, excavated from a tomb near Nalingaotu
estetica della Cina classica”, published by village, Shenmu County, China, originally dated to the
Supernova, Limena, Italy in 2010. late 4th century BC, but later amended to Han dynasty.
Dr. Koos de Jong is a Dutch art historian
and has been privately collecting Chinese
art over decades. He has authored Giuseppe tucci (1894-1984) lITeRATuRe cOMPARIsON
hundreds of articles and several books For the influence of Scythian nomadic art also
on Dutch fine and decorative arts spanning from the Middle Ages to compare with a gold stag plaque, 400-300 BC,
the modern era. In 2013, he published an extensive study of Chinese Scythian, western Asia, in the Cleveland museum
riding gear in “Dragon & Horse, Saddle Rugs and Other Horse Tack from of art, accession number 1985.77.
China and Beyond”. Between 1976 and 2009 he worked for numerous
museums across the Netherlands and was the director of the European For more comparisons, please see:
Ceramic Work Center in Den Bosch. J.F. So and E.C. Bunker, Traders and raiders on China’s Northern Frontier,
condition: Excellent condition, especially considering the age of this Seattle and London 1995, p. 56, fig. 20. E.C. Bunker, Ancient Bronzes of the
piece, with wear and casting flaws, losses, some minor dents and few Eastern Eurasian Steppes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, New york
small nicks, and a fine, naturally grown copper-red patina. 1997, pp. 49-50, figs. A53 and A56.
scientific laboratory analysis: Copies of three metallurgic analysis Orientations, November 1999, p. 52, fig. 6.
charts issued by Waarborg Holland in 2018 are accompanying this lot. Han Wei and Chrsitian Deydier, Ancient Chinese Gold, Paris 2001, pp. 62-63,
Frans van Heemstra, the expert who ordered the test, comments: “We fig. 101.
have had the gold tested by Waarborg Holland in Gouda. They have
tested the upper part, the soldering and the base, which makes it very Auction result comparison: Compare with a related but slightly earlier pair
likely that the material comes from the indicated period. There is a very of boar-form ornaments, significantly lighter and less elaborate, sold by
high gold and silver content and there are no traces of cadmium - which Christie’s New york in Masterpieces of Early Chinese Gold and Silver on 12
would have been present in a later specimen.” September 2019, lot 509, for USD $93,750.
expert comment: Asked for an opinion about this piece, Dr. Irene
Good wrote in May 2007: “The object you showed is a cap crest from
a Sarmatian or, more likely, Ukok region headdress. Very beautiful 金鳥帽飾，中國西北方，公元前三世紀
金鳥坐於帶有如意形邊緣的矩形底座上（丟失了一個）。 這只神話般的動物是由一
example – thank you for showing to me!” 個帶有猛禽喙的斜角雄鹿，獨特的匙形耳朵，滾動的鹿角和尾巴組成，身體和頭部上
Dr. Irene L. Good, Ph. D., Research Associate at Harvard University, 可見花卉圖案。
Faculty of Arts and Sciences, is an archaeologist of Central and Western
Asia. Since 2001, she is an Associate of the Peabody Museum. Dr. 來源：Giuseppe Tucci. 據説約1980年威尼斯 Claude Sciaky-Menasché購於上述
Good’s current research is focused on the later Bronze period of 收藏。Drs. Koos de Jong 2005年購於上述收藏。
Giuseppe Tucci (1894-1984) 是意大利東方學學家、印度學家和東亞研究學者，專
Western China. 門研究藏族文化和佛教歷史。 在他的巔峰時期，Tucci是意大利法西斯主義的支持
者，並且他利用對亞洲傳統的理想化來刻意支持意大利的意識形態運動。 Tucci精通
Weight: 43.9 g 幾種歐洲語言，以及梵語，孟加拉語，巴利語，普拉克利語，中文和藏語，他在羅馬
薩皮恩扎大學任教直到他去世。 他被認為是佛教研究領域的創始人之一。
Dimensions: Height 6.5 cm
Claude Sciaky-Menasché 曾是意大利的藝術商人，并且也是 “Storia ed esteti-
ca della Cina classica”（古典中國歷史與美學）的作者，2010年出版于意大利
The Ukok Plateau is located in today’s southwestern Siberia, in the Altai Supernova, Limena。
Mountains region of russia at the borders with northwestern China. Drs. Koos de Jong是一位荷蘭藝術史學家，幾十年來他一直私人收藏中國藝術
During the late 3rd century BC, this region was – among others - embattled 品。他撰寫了數百篇文章和幾本書，內容涉及從中世紀到現代的荷蘭美術和裝飾藝
術。2013年，他在《Dragon & Horse：Saddle Rugs and Other Horse Tack from
between the Xiongnu and the ever expanding Han dynasty, with the latter China and Beyond》中發表了有關中國騎馬裝備的詳盡研究。1976年至2009年
eventually prevailing and, as a result of their campaign, installing the 間，他曾在荷蘭的許多博物館工作，並曾擔任登博世歐洲陶瓷工作中心的主任。
Protectorate of the Western regions, an imperial administration imposed 品相：品相極好，特別是想對它的歷史年代而言，存在磨損、鑄造缺陷、缺損、一些
by Han China from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD. 小凹痕和少量小缺口，以及自然生長銅紅色包漿。
重量：43.9 克
尺寸：高6.5 厘米
The Xiongnu were a tribal confederation of all sorts of nomadic peoples 一件相似帽冠裝飾可見于陝西歷史博物館，來自神木縣納林高兔村漢代匈奴墓，起初
who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the steppes of today’s 斷為公元前4世紀末，後來改爲漢代
northwestern China from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. 関於斯基泰人的游牧藝術的影響，可比較在克利夫蘭藝術博物館的一件西亞斯基泰人
公元前400-300年的金鹿裝飾，保藏號為1985.77。
The present type of personal ornament was favored by many of these
nomadic people and cultures, who at some point in history submitted to estimate euR 15.000,-
Chinese dominance and were subsequently rewarded with gold emblems Starting price EUr 7.500,-
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