SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD, 6TH-EARLY 5TH CENTURY BC

The present finial may be compared to the virtually identical gold finial from the Dr Johan Carl Kempe Collection (1884-1967), sold at Christie's New York, Masterpieces of Early Chinese Gold and Silver, 12 September 2019, lot 512. On both finials, the narrow bands of dots that highlight the various features and form the borders of the two bands of scrolls encircling the tubular neck appear to be imitating the granulation technique which was introduced into China from the Near East. That type of granulation was created by diffusion bonding tiny gold spheres to the surface. The type of imitation granulation that decorates these finials can also be seen on two other pieces of Spring and Autumn date (770-475 BC) illustrated by Carol Michaelson in Gilded Dragons: Buried Treasures from China's Golden Ages, British Museum, 1999: one a small gold garment hook with duck-head hook excavated in 1992 at Yimen village, Baoji, Shaanxi province, p. 27, no. 5 (left), the other the turquoise-inlaid gold hilt of an iron sword, p. 31, no. 9, from the same excavation.