Lost Luxuries: Ancient Chinese Gold through April 19, 2020 at the Middlebury College Museum of Art in Middlebury, Vermont

Lost Luxuries: Ancient Chinese Gold through April 19, 2020 at the Middlebury College Museum of Art in Middlebury, Vermont.
About 2,500 years ago, Chinese craftsmen started experimenting with goldsmithing, combining foreign techniques with their own local imagery and styles. In the centuries that followed, gold ornaments and vessels became potent communicators of economic status, official rank, gender norms, religious affiliation, and group identity. In the early twentieth century, art collectors across the globe recognized their beauty and historical importance and went to great lengths to obtain them. This exhibition explores the artistry and social meanings of Chinese gold objects produced between the Warring States period (475–221 BCE) and Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), as well as the more recent story of how they entered American museum collections. The ancient artifacts are accompanied by innovative digital features that bring to life recent excavations, traditional goldsmithing techniques, and the lives of the diverse artisans who created them.



Image: Gold phoenix ornament with pearls, Song Dynasty (960-1279) courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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