Lot 53.  A very rare gold mask, Liao Dynasty (907-1125); 23cm (9in) long. Estimate £ 30,000 - 50,000 (€ 35,000 - 58,000). Sold for £ 32,562 (€ 38,021). Photo Bonhams.

With straps encircling the crown of the head and joined at the top by a circular medallion, the facial features created by repousse with the hair finely incised, the circumference of the mask with punched and chased border, stand.

Property from the Collection of John J. Studzinski, CBE

Provenance: A & J Speelman Ltd., London, 24 June 1998
John J. Studzinski, CBE

Published and illustrated: A & J Speelman Ltd., Catalogue, London, 1990, no.14

Note: Gold masks made of gold sheets such as the present example appear to have been an important part of the elaborate burial regalia of the Liao aristocracy.

The discovery in 2003 of the Liao dynasty tomb of the Princess of Chen and her husband, Xiao Shaoju, in Naiman Banner, Inner Mongolia, provided archaeological evidence of masks being made from gold sheet. The tomb also yielded a profusion of personal ornaments made of silver such as boots, headdresses, belts and purses but also jewellery made of precious and semi-precious stones such as jade, agate, amber and crystal and finally garments manufactured with the finest silk. These findings suggests that the finest materials appear to have been exclusively reserved for consumption by the highest nobility of the Liao society; for reference see Neimenggu Wenwu Kaogu Yanjiu, 'Liao tomb of Princess of the State of Chen', Wenwu, 11, 1987.

Two gold masks of a type similar to the present example are illustrated in Chinesisches Gold und Silber: Die Sammlung Pierre Uldry, Zürich, 1994, pp.212-213, nos.239 and 241, as well as a similar 'net' of eight narrow straps radiating from a central circular medallion.

Compare with a similar gold mask, Liao dynasty, which was sold at Christie's New York, 26 March 2010, lot 1292.

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, London, 7 Nov 2019