JIN DYNASTY (265-420)

Details

A RARE GOLD, BRONZE AND TURQUOISE PLAQUE
JIN DYNASTY (265-420)
Possibly a hat ornament, of petal shape, the thin bronze plaque applied in cut-out gold sheet outline accentuated in granulation with a cicada with spread wings and circular eyes within a border of foliate scroll inlaid with turquoise beads, lucite backing
3 in. (7.6 cm.) high

Provenance

Acquired in 1921.

Exhibited

New York, China House Gallery, The China Institute in America, Early Chinese Gold & Silver, 21 October 1971-30 Janaury 1972, no. 27.

Lot Essay

Plaques of this type have been dated as early as Jin dynasty, like the present example, and as late as Tang dynasty. A similar plaque illustrated by B. Gyllensvärd in Chinese Gold & Silver in the Karl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, pp. 78-9, no. 20, is dated Six Dynasties period, where the author speculates that it might have been affixed to a cap. Another similar plaque, also described as a hat ornament, is illustrated in the Gisèle Croës exhibition catalogue, Gold and Silver: Treasures of Ancient China, 20-29 March 2007, p. 33, and dated Jin dynasty. Yet another similar plaque, on loan from C.T. Loo and dated to the Tang dynasty was included in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, London, 1935-6, no. 705.

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