Louise Termignon
Stock Inventory and Discovery Sale Coordinator
Lot 49
SIX MASQUES FUNÉRAIRES EN MÉTAL ET MÉTAL DORÉ Dynastie Liao, 907-1125
12 December 2025, 11:00 CET
Paris, Avenue Hoche€8,000 - €12,000
Ask about this lot
Jing Wen
Cataloguer
SIX MASQUES FUNÉRAIRES EN MÉTAL ET MÉTAL DORÉ
Dynastie Liao, 907-1125
SIX METAL FUNERARY FACE MASKS
Liao Dynasty
Comprising two gilt-metal masks, two silver masks and two bronze masks, each naturalistically rendered in sheet metal with finely detailed eyes, nose, mouth and ears.
The largest 27 cm (10 5/8 in.) high (6).
SIX METAL FUNERARY FACE MASKS
Liao Dynasty
Comprising two gilt-metal masks, two silver masks and two bronze masks, each naturalistically rendered in sheet metal with finely detailed eyes, nose, mouth and ears.
The largest 27 cm (10 5/8 in.) high (6).
Footnotes
Provenance
Acquired in Hong Kong between 1995 and 2000
來源
於1995年至2000年間得自香港
Metal masks such the examples in this group were found in tombs of the Liao dynasty that ruled Northern China. They were part of a custom that saw the face covered with masks made of thin metal sheet. Depending on the social status of the deceased, these masks were made in different materials. While copper was used for those of lower status, higher ranking officials were allowed to use a more precious metal such as silver and gilt-silver¬. Gold was reserved for members of the imperial family. Such masks were also made with attention to detail, with smooth features and intricately incised facial hair, and are said to depict some of the deceased's features as two gold face masks discovered in the tomb of Princess of Chen (d. 1018) and her partner Xiao Shaoju at Qinglongshan in Naiman Banner, demonstrate, see Gilded Splendor. Treasures of China's Liao Empire (907-1125), New York, 2006, cat.nos 2 and 6.
Compare the masks in this group to masks made in similar materials such as a gold-plated silver mask of a noblewoman discovered in a Liao tomb in Xiaolamagou, Balibao village, Liaoning province, and illustrated in Complete Collection of Chinese Gold, Silver, Glass and Enamel Utensils, vol. II, Shijiazhuang, 2004, pl. 352, and a related mask made in gilt-bronze, excavated from a Liao tomb at Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, published in The Silk Road in Inner Mongolia, Hong Kong, 2007, cat.no. 18. See also a silver funerary mask formerly in the collection of Carl Kempe, sold in Sotheby's London, 14 May 2008, lot 92.