Luxury is freedom
Oriental Splendors
by Alessandra Cenna
MUSEE NATIONAL DES ARTS ASIATIQUES GUIMET
Paris
from September 18, 2024 to January 13, 2025
THE GOLD OF THE MING
The splendors and beauties of Imperial China (14th-17th century)
Dragon-decorated hairpins - Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Gold filigree set with rubies - L 17.2 -17.6 cm W. 7-7.1 cm - weight 54.6-55 g - Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts © Peter Vierm Kwok’s Dong Bo - Zhai Collection (Collected in Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts ) Dragon-decorated hairpins - Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Gold filigree set with rubies - L 17.2 -17.6 cm W. 7-7.1 cm - weight 54.6-55 g - Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts © Peter Vierm Kwok’s Dong Bo - Zhai Collection (Collected in Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts )
Box with deer decoration - Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) reign of Wanli 1573 1620 dated 1601 - Gold filigree set with rubies and sapphires - H 13-14 cm l 9.5-10.5 cm weight 270.6-282 g - Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts © Peter Vierm Kwok’s Dong Bo - Zhai Collection (Collected in Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts )
Pair of bracelets -Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)- Gold - d 6.4-6.6 cm, weight 143.8-145 g- Xi’an Qujiang Fine Arts Museum
© Peter Vierm Kwok’s Dong Bo- Zhai Collection (Collected in Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts
Hairpin with phoenix decoration - Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) - Gold filigree set with rubies and sapphires L 14.8 cm W.4.7 cm weight 36.1 g Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts © Peter Vierm Kwok’s Dong Bo - Zhai Collection (Collected in Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts)
This new autumn exhibition is organized by the National Museum of Asian Arts Guimet in Paris and the Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts (Xi’an, China) as part of the Franco-Chinese year of cultural tourism and celebration of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and China.
The jewelry, tableware and objects from the Ming imperial court (1368-1644), from loans from the Chinese museum and the Guimet collection, bear witness to the wealth, power and sophisticated tastes of this sumptuous Ming Dynasty.
The exhibition presents very precious examples of gold work belonging to the inhabitants of the Forbidden City and the owners of wealthy palaces.
The five-clawed dragons and the Phoenixes show the links of belonging to the imperial family; as for other objects, they are signs of a very high social position.
At the time of the Ming emperors, international trade routes were widely open, particularly with the Americas, which allowed very significant transfers of gold.
With its color of the sun and its stainless strength, gold is considered in China as a symbol of wealth and social status alongside bronze, jade and silk.
The country’s mines were exploited at full capacity and, unlike silver, gold never became a monetary value under the Ming.
Hairpin with flower basket decoration - Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) - Gold set with rubies - L 9.8 cm W.4.8 cm weight 10.1 g - Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts © Peter Vierm Kwok’s Dong Bo - Zhai Collection (Collected in Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts)
Boxes with deer decoration - Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) reign of Wanli 1573 - 1620, dated 1601 - Gold filigree set with rubies and sapphires - H 13-14 cm l 9.5-10.5 cm weight 270.6-282 g - Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts © Peter Vierm Kwok’s Dong Bo - Zhai Collection (Collected in Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts)
Pair of bracelets - Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) - Gold set with rubies - H. 1.9 cm D 6.7 CM - weight 57.1-58.8 g - Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts © Peter Vierm Kwok’s Dong Bo - Zhai Collection (Collected in Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts)
Lantern-decorated hairpins - Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) Gold filigree -L.17.6 -18.6cm; weight 23.8 -25.2g - Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts © Peter Vierm Kwok’s Dong Bo- Zhai Collection (Collected in Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts )
Dragon-decorated hairpins - Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) Gold filigree set with pearls - L 14.1-14.9 cm; weight 17.6 - 18 g Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts © Peter Vierm Kwok’s Dong Bo- Zhai Collection (Collected in Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts )
Gold jewelry is also a symbol of beauty. They reveal with sumptuous delicacy the radiance of female alabaster faces. It is therefore associated with a pure and perfect aesthetic ideal.
The objects on display are very precious and very rare, in fact most of the pieces have often been melted down over the centuries to adapt to the fashions of different eras. The pieces of feminine jewelry, gold pins, hairstyle ornaments, earrings, bracelets, rings or scarf pendants, are all refined works created with incredible technicality combined with remarkable talent.
Wealth, happiness, health, longevity decorate jewelry and ceremonial tableware to ensure luck and prosperity to their owners. Flowers and birds rub shoulders with religious motifs and are expressed differently depending on the seasons and social circumstances.
This unique exhibition is an invitation to penetrate the intimacy of the palaces, homes and gardens of the Chinese aristocracy. A journey through time full of luxury and delicacy, pure magic to relive the splendor of China of yesteryear...
The Gold of the Ming
The splendors and beauties
of Imperial China (14th-17th century)
National Museum of Asian Arts Guimet
Paris
from September 18, 2024 to January 13, 2025
www.guimet.fr.guimet.fr
Ruyi scepter (detail) Boxes with deer decoration - Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) reign of Wanli 1573 1620 - dated 1601 - Gold filigree set with jade, rubies and sapphires - L 36.5 cm l.4.2 cm - weight 476.8 g - Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts © Peter Vierm Kwok’s Dong Bo - Zhai Collection (Collected in Xi’an Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts)