A GOLD AND SILVER ALLOY FILIGREE PHOENIX-DECORATED DIADEM

Details
A GOLD AND SILVER ALLOY FILIGREE PHOENIX-DECORATED DIADEM
SONG DYNASTY

Of crescent shape, with a lower wavy band cut from a gold and silver alloy sheet with a pair of stylized confronted phoenix amidst flowerheads, below nine bellow-form filigree ornaments decorated with cash-symbols and flowerheads, all supported on two thin wire pins for attachment
7 5/8in. (19.3cm.) across

Lot Essay

An almost identical example was included in the exhibition, Adornment for Eternity, Status and Rank in Chinese Ornament, Denver Art Museum, October 15, 1994-September 3, 1995, and illustrated by Julia M. White and Emma C. Bunker in the Catalogue, p. 177, no. 89. A number of Song dynasty examples of similar construction have been found in Zhejiang province. For a hairpin, also with filigree heads, see Wenwu, Beijing, 1984, no. 5, pls. 2 and 5; and another diadem is illustrated by Christian Deydier, Imperial Gold From Ancient China, Part II, London, 1991, Catalogue, no. 9