Rare Chinese Silver Pillow, Liao Dynasty

A very rare and important Chinese silver repousse pillow, Liao…
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A very rare and important Chinese silver repousse pillow, Liao Dynasty, 907-1125, probably from a royal tomb, finely decorated in the centre with a pair of phoenix and a flaming pearl of wisdom, the everted rim with eight floral sprays within beaded borders, supported on a high sloping foot decorated with four large flower sprays, 7.5 x 34.5 x 25 cm, *for a very similar Liao pillow in gold, see Gisele Croes 'Treasures of Ancient China', 18/3/2002., *also, Xiaoneng Yang, 'Unearthing Liao Elite Art and Culture: An Empire in Northern China, from the 10th to the 12th century' see Orientations, October 2004, pp66-74; which refers to a royal joint-burial of the Princess of Chen and her husband Qiao Shaoju. 'The princess, a niece of the Liao emperor Shengzong, died in 1018...The princess and her husband (their heads resting on silver pillows), were wearing gilt-silver crowns, gold masks, silver-mesh clothes...', Figure 8 shows their bodies at rest inside the tomb, the heads lying on the silver pillows

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  • Embossed / Repousse - Embossing, also known as repousse, is the technique of decorating metal with raised designs, by pressing or beating out the design from the reverse side of the object.It is the opposite of chasing, where the decoration is applied from the front. An embossed or repoussed object may have chasing applied to finish off the design.
  • Everted - An everted rim is an outwardly turning or flaring outwards rim, as seen the rims on jugs, vases, bowls and dishes.

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