L'or Des Ming : Fastes Et Beautés De La Chine Impériale, Xive-Xviie Siècle Golden Ming: Splendours And Beauties Of Imperial China

Exhibition at the Musée Guimet, Paris, 18 September 2024 - 13 January 2025

Since ancient times, gold has been considered a symbol of wealth and social status in China, alongside bronze, jade and silk. Under the Ming (1368-1644), goldsmithing spread to the upper echelons of Chinese society, achieving unrivalled luxury and delicacy. This unparalleled refinement in the art of jewellery, with its rich, baroque aesthetic, is testimony to the splendour of this dynasty, now considered to be a golden age of Chinese civilisation.

Paintings and literature provide striking evidence of the gold vases and jewellery used in daily life at the emperor's court and in the palaces of influential families. Craftsmen gave free rein to their imagination to design pieces of great refinement, testifying to unparalleled skill and technical mastery, reflecting the splendour and abundant aesthetics of the period.

This catalogue of the exhibition devoted to the art of gold ornamentation in the Ming period features exceptional loans from the Qujiang Fine Arts Museum, which holds one of the most magnificent collections of gold from the last two Chinese imperial dynasties, alongside works from the Musée Guimet. It includes a chapter devoted to goldsmithing techniques in China.