Hong Kong Palace Museum | Radiance: Ancient Gold from the Hong Kong Palace Museum Collection and the Mengdiexuan Collection

9001. Headdress with animals

Headdress with animals

This gold headdress was probably made more than 2,000 years ago. It may have belonged to an elite member of the Xiongnu, who were active from the third century BCE to the third century CE in the steppe and northern China. The fine decoration of animal motifs in repoussé is highly distinctive of steppe-style art. What types of animals can you find? In the middle is a sheep’s head with curved horns. On the two sides are birds and animals such as eagles, snakes, stags, and tigers. At the top of the headdress are four combat scenes with tigers and stags. The holes in the centre suggest that a finial may once have been attached to the top. It might have been in the shape of a three-dimensional imaginary creature. Similar ornaments have been discovered as far afield as Shaanxi province, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and southern Siberia, signifying the close contacts between these regions.

© The Hong Kong Palace Museum

9002. Plaque with mounted archer

Plaque with mounted archer

The Tubo empire ruled the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau area from the 7th to the 9th century. This plaque shows a vivid image of a mounted archer. Look closely at the delicate details of the plaque, including the archer’s braids and Tubo-style clothing, as well as the horse equipment. The lavish decoration of the horse fittings is a clear sign of the horse’s importance in the lives of the equestrian Tubo people.

In fact, this image of a Tubo warrior shows distinct influences from Sasanian gold and silver wares, which sometimes depict hunting scenes of Sasanian kings. This plaque thus tells us much about the exchanges between Tubo and other cultures.

© The Hong Kong Palace Museum

9003. Burial mask 

Burial mask 

The Tubo empire ruled the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau area from the 7th to the 9th century. The Tubo elite used a wide range of items as funerary objects, many made of gold and silver. This gold burial mask is made up of several pieces. The eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth are inlaid with turquoise and crystals, while the upper and lower lip lines and the eyes are surrounded by tiny gold beads. The extensive use of turquoise inlay is typical of Tubo goldware and reflects the significance of this semiprecious stone for the Tubo elite.

The earliest gold mask with inlaid gemstones was found in a tomb in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It is believed that the emergence of this kind of burial mask in Tubo resulted from cultural exchanges between Tubo and communities in the northwest regions.

© The Hong Kong Palace Museum

9004. Headdress with phoenix and mandarin ducks holding floral branches

Headdress with phoenix and mandarin ducks holding floral branches

This headdress is exquisitely crafted using the finest materials.  The decoration, combining gold wire with gemstone inlays and gold granules, is of a style known as jinkuang baodian, which was favoured by Tang dynasty nobility. The headdress is replete with vibrant gemstones such as turquoise, agate, and glass. If you look more closely, you can also see a material that resembles jade. Can you guess what it is? It is a kind of clamshell called tridacna. This headdress combines inlay techniques widespread in Central and Western Asia with the popular Central Plains depictions of phoenix and mandarin ducks. This combination of foreign techniques with local designs provides evidence of exchanges between different cultures.

© The Hong Kong Palace Museum

9005. Headdress with dragons chasing a pearl

Headdress with dragons chasing a pearl

This headdress is the very first artefact in the Hong Kong Palace Museum Collection. It is one of more than nine hundred ancient gold and silver wares generously donated by the two owners of the Mengdiexuan collection. Together these precious objects are of great importance for the museum’s collecting and research endeavours. 

Take a closer look at the details of the headdress. It has a hemispherical top with six ridges and two wings. On the front are bat and lotus motifs. On the back are two filigree dragons chasing a flaming pearl. The dragon heads and the pearl are connected to the headdress with springs and would sway with the wearer’s every movement. 

A variety of gold-working techniques were used in the creation of this headdress, including hammering, filigree, granulation, chasing, and gemstone inlay. It exemplifies the very finest in Ming dynasty gold craftsmanship. 

© The Hong Kong Palace Museum