A VERY FINE AND RARE GOLD OPENWORK CHAPE EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 6TH/4TH CENTURY BC

of flat chevron shape, each side decorated with a complex openwork design of eleven sinuous interlaced snake dragons framed at the sides by a series of stylised birds which rise from a stylised animal head with turquoise inlaid eyes separated by a band of fine volutes, the tip of the chape decorated with a snake-dragon head

Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1954-55, cat. no. 1.

Chinese Gold, Silver and Porcelain. The Kempe Collection, Asia House Gallery, New York, 1971, cat. no. 1, an exhibition touring the United States and shown also at nine other museums.

Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, pl. 1.

Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 1.

The chape is in overall very good condition. The surface shows some very light overall wear. One turquoise inlay to the eye of one of the animal heads missing. There is some distortion to the opening of the chape and the two sides seem to have been squeezed together slightly with one side with a few very minor fine stress cracks (as a result of the sides being compressed).
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

It is extremely rare to find pure gold pieces of this early period of such intricate and meticulous workmanship. However the motif of interlaced snake dragons is typical of the period and can be seen on a number of precious objects including the famous gold openwork sword handle, excavated in 1992 from tomb no. 2 at Yimen, Shaanxi province, illustrated in Han Wei and Christian Deydier, Ancient Chinese Gold, Paris, 2001, pl. 62. Another gold dagger handle, in the British Museum, similarly fashioned in openwork of interlaced dragons, is published in R. Soame Jenyns and William Watson, Chinese Art. The Minor Arts, Fribourg, 1963, pl. 9. See also a gold accessory from the collection of Dr. Pierre Uldry included in the exhibition Chinesisches Gold und Silber, Rietberg Museum, Zurich, 1994, cat.no. 4. Exquisite gold pieces of this type display the extraordinay technical achievements and testify to the casting skills of the Chinese craftsmen working in this precious medium during the Eastern Zhou period.  

The shield form of this chape remained popular and can be seen on later objects such as plaques, belthooks and hat ornaments. See a shield-shaped gold plaque attributed to the Six Dynasties, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, included in the China Institute in America exhibition Early Chinese Gold and Silver, China House Gallery, New York, 1971, cat. no. 27; a Western Jin gold belthook, illustrated in Zhongguo jin yin boli falangqi quanji, vol. 1, Shijiazhuang, 2004, pl. 220, together with another shield-form gold plaque, pl. 221, in the Nanjing Museum.