A PAIR OF GOLD HOLLOW GOURD EARRINGS

A pair of gold hollow double gourd earrings capped with lotus leaf calyxes. The large pins are s-shaped.

The earrings were worn by noble women and are recorded in the Tianshui bingshan lu. Gold examples seem to have been found largely in the provinces of Liaoning, Gansu, Hangshu, Jiangshu and Sichuan.

The tops of the gourds are decorated by four gold leaves, engraved and with the edges shaped into tiny repeated curls. The leaves secure a long ankyroid or ‘S’-shaped wire for threading through the earlobe. Possibly, such earrings were commissioned for members of the Imperial family as weddings gifts with the wish for many sons.

The double gourd form was much appreciated in China from at least the Tang period (618-906). They were associated with abundance and fertility, largely on account of their luxuriant tendrils and many seeds. Another interpretation is that the double element structure represents the double nature of the universe, with the lower sphere representing the earth and the upper sphere representing the heaven

Similar examples

The Art of the Chinese Goldsmith, The Cheng Xun Tang Collection, The Art Museum, The Institute for Chinese Studies, The Chinese Art Museum, Hong Kong, The Chinese University, Hong Kong, p450 #G58