Lot Essay
Compare the fine filigree work with a gold pendant in the shape of a cicada mounted with a tourmaline body dated to the Ming dynasty from the Mengdiexuan Collection, illustrated in Adornment for the Body and Soul, no. 150, p. 306.
These unusually large S-shaped gold post appear as early as the Song dynasty, two examples are illustrated op. cit., nos. 124 and 125. The tradition appears to have continued into the Ming dynasty as depicted on a painting by Tang Ying in the Palace Museum Collection, Beijing, Ladies of the Shu Court, illustrated in Ming Sijia Huaji, The Four Great Masters of the Ming Dynasty, no. 201, where one of the court ladies can be seen as wearing earrings of very similar type.
US$1,500-2,500
These unusually large S-shaped gold post appear as early as the Song dynasty, two examples are illustrated op. cit., nos. 124 and 125. The tradition appears to have continued into the Ming dynasty as depicted on a painting by Tang Ying in the Palace Museum Collection, Beijing, Ladies of the Shu Court, illustrated in Ming Sijia Huaji, The Four Great Masters of the Ming Dynasty, no. 201, where one of the court ladies can be seen as wearing earrings of very similar type.
US$1,500-2,500