Gilded Bronze Belt Buckle with Turquoise Inlays, Warring States
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A silver and gilded bronze belt buckle with gold and turquoise inlays Warring States (475 to 221 BCE) 20.2 cm high. Provenance: Miklos Grunberg (1918-1988), Sydney. Mossgreen, Melbourne, 2 June 2008, lot 127. The distinguished characters of this buckle include not only the usage of different base metals to form the body, but also the decoration technique of using turquoise inlays to fill areas of elongated designs to accentuate the form of the buckle. Examples of similar form can be found in the collection of the Museum of East Asian art in Bath, see Inaugural Exhibition: Vol 2 Chinese Metalwares and Decorative Arts, Bath, 1993, p.40, pl.238, though the turquoise inlays of this example is nowhere near as fine as the current lot. Another one with the same four-petal floral design in the centre, though of turquoise inlays instead of gold, is in the collection of H.M. King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, see Chinese Art from the Collection of H.M. King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, Tokyo and Osaka, 1971, no.32.
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- Gilding - Gilding is a method of ornamentation whereby a thin sheet of gold metal is applied to items made of wood, leather, ceramics, glass and silver for decorative purposes.
For furniture including mirrors, the sheet of gold is usually applied over a coating of gesso. Gesso is a mixture of plaster of Paris and gypsum mixed with water and then applied to the carved wooden frames of mirrors and picture frames as a base for applying the gold leaf. After numerous coats of gesso have been applied, allowed to dry and then sanded a coat of "bole", a usually red coloured mixture of clay and glue is brushed on and allowed to dry, after which the gold leaf is applied. Over time parts of the gilding will rub off so the base colour can be seen. In water gilding, this was generally a blue colour, while in oil gilding, the under layer was often yellow. In Victorian times, gilders frequently used red as a pigment beneath the gold leaf.
Metal was often gilded by a process known as fire gilding. Gold mixed with mercury was applied and heated, causing the mercury to evaporate, the long-term effect of which was to kill or disable the craftsman or woman from mercury poisoning. The pursuit of beauty has claimed many victims, not the least of which were the artists who made those pieces so highly sought after today. - Bronze - An alloy of copper and tin, traditionally in the proportions of about 9 parts of copper to 1 part of tin.
The discovery of bronze in Western Asia in the 4th century enabled people to create metal objects which were superior to those previoulsy possible because of its strength and hardness, and it has been used throughout the world for weapons, coins, tools, statuary and other decorative items.
It is very fluid in a molten state, and its hardness, strength when set, and non-corrosive properties makes it most suitable for casting sculpture. - Bce - BCE following a number, is the abbreviation for Before the Common/Current/Christian Era and is the equivilent of "BC", so that 2013 BCE is the same as 2013 BC. The "BCE" designation has been adopted by writers wishing to be sensitive to non-Christians.
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