Six pièces d’orfèvrerie chinoise du musée Guimet

From the Sui to the Song dynasties : six pieces of Chinese goldsmith ’s art at the Musée Guimet. Throughout Antiquity, bronze was the principal metal used in Chinese art and it was only during the Tang dynasty (618-907) that the working of gold developed. The growth of the Empire towards central Asia encouraged an influx of gold, whilst trade exchanges with the West helped introduce new techniques (soldering, embossing, stamping, etc.) along with new forms (cups with stems or handles) and a new decorative repertory. The objects held by the Musée Guimet and studied in the present article illustrate this evolution. They are a perfume flask dating from the Sui period (581-618), three pieces dating from the reign of the Tang emperors, a guilded silver cup from the second Tang period (after the An Lushan revolt of 756) and, finally, a gold cup from the Song period. This last piece illustrates the withdrawal of China after the tenth-century recession, and the development of specifically Chinese aesthetic forms.