Gold filigree hinged bangle

Qing dynasty, 19th century
Diameter: 2 7/8 inches, 7.2 cm
Width: 5/8 inch, 1.5 cm

Fig. 1 Gold filigree bracelet, Freer and Sackler Gallery

A gold filigree hinged bangle, formed as two dragons, joined at their muzzles by a movable pin. The domed sides of the bangle are decorated with floral scrolls. The dragon’s heads are realistically modelled with horns, bulging eyes and strong jaws. The gold filigree is overall well polished.

This intricately designed filigree gold bangle is based on two dragons playing with a magic pearl, which has for centuries been an auspicious motif in Chinese iconography. Bangles of a similar design are known to have been made in other materials and were worn by royal consorts in the Qing Court, such as a jadeite bangle in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.[1] This type of exquisite filigree work was famously made in the Guangdong silversmith workshops, located in the south of China. Several similar dragon bangles are known to have been brought back to the United States in the mid-19th century, such as an almost identical example in the collection of the China Trade Museum, illustrated in the publication Chinese Export Silver – A Legacy of Luxury.[2] Another closely comparable gold filigree bangle, dated to the late 18th – 19th century, is in the Freer and Sackler Gallery, the Smithsonian’s Museum of Asian Art (fig. 1).[3] A pair of solid gold bangles and two pairs of gold bracelets with a similar design were in the Qing Court collection and are now in the Palace Museum, Beijing.[4]

Provenance: private collection, Europe

The National Palace Museum, Taipei online collection archive, no. 故玉 1901
Forbes, H. A. C. Chinese Export Silver- A Legacy of Luxury (A loan exhibition from the collection of the China Trade Museum), International Exhibition Foundation, Washington, D. C. 1984, no. 63
The Freer and Sackler Gallery, the Smithsonian’s Museum of Asian Art, accession number: S2001.2
Zhu, Jiajin, Jewelry and Accessories of the Royal Consorts of Ch’ing Dynasty, Forbidden City Publishing House, Peking, 1992, nos. 263 & 264, p. 114

金鏍絲龍紋鐲
清十九世紀
徑：7.2 公分寬：1.5 公分
鐲型飾，左右對開，兩龍首面面相對，長鍊相連，另以一鈕型活栓控制開闔。全器以金線細絲製成，
僅內側鑲以金面，鐲面則鏍絲飾捲葉花卉紋，龍首長鬚捲繞，口顎開展，細節描繪精準。雙龍搶珠（
珠為中間鈕型活栓）常見於清宮后妃首飾，如臺北故宮博物院藏有一翠玉雙龍手鐲，或北京故宮博物
院藏金質雙龍手鐲。金銀鏍絲龍紋鐲亦可見於清宮舊藏，清代末期亦成為廣東外銷品，美國弗利爾與
賽克勒美術館便有一件藏品，極為相似。

來源：歐洲私人收藏。