Description
Kim Khánh in imperial jewelry. Exceptional gold Khánh adorned on each side with a very rich gold repoussé and filigree decoration featuring, in high relief, two dragons facing each other in the clouds around a flaming pearl set with a Rhinestone. Twelve other stones surround the backs of the dragons (one is missing on the reverse), in the center, the engraved characters are set with pearls, on the obverse the formula NHÂT NGUYỆT TINH HẢI, meaning "The Days, the Months, the Asters, the Sea", on the reverse ÂN TỨ, meaning "to confer this favor as a blessing". Gold suspension chain, pendant in the form of an Annamite knot, below, suspended from three jade beads, three bangs of alternating mother-of-pearl and coral beads terminated by green piriform pearls. 77 x 43 mm, gross weight: 47 g Provenance: collection of S.A.I. le Prince Bảo Long, Binoche sale at Drouot, November 22, 1995, no. 13. Of great refinement of execution, this Khánh refers to the Chinese theory of the Five Elements or Movements in which the days are associated with wood, the months with fire, the stars with metal, the sea with water. The fifth element, earth, is the center into which the other four merge, and is implicitly represented by the union of the first four.
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Kim Khánh in imperial jewelry. Exceptional gold Khánh adorned on each side with a very rich gold repoussé and filigree decoration featuring, in high relief, two dragons facing each other in the clouds around a flaming pearl set with a Rhinestone. Twelve other stones surround the backs of the dragons (one is missing on the reverse), in the center, the engraved characters are set with pearls, on the obverse the formula NHÂT NGUYỆT TINH HẢI, meaning "The Days, the Months, the Asters, the Sea", on the reverse ÂN TỨ, meaning "to confer this favor as a blessing". Gold suspension chain, pendant in the form of an Annamite knot, below, suspended from three jade beads, three bangs of alternating mother-of-pearl and coral beads terminated by green piriform pearls. 77 x 43 mm, gross weight: 47 g Provenance: collection of S.A.I. le Prince Bảo Long, Binoche sale at Drouot, November 22, 1995, no. 13. Of great refinement of execution, this Khánh refers to the Chinese theory of the Five Elements or Movements in which the days are associated with wood, the months with fire, the stars with metal, the sea with water. The fifth element, earth, is the center into which the other four merge, and is implicitly represented by the union of the first four.
