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Photo: Elizabeth Mann
Pair of phoenixes
Photo: Elizabeth Mann

Pair of phoenixes

Datelate 7th - 8th century
Label TextThese delicate phoenixes were cut from sheets of gold. Cut-outs like this were mounted on items such as mirrors and boxes with a lacquer-based mixture—a technique called pingtuo. Tang dynasty elites indulged in pingtuo luxuries to such an extent that an emperor issued a ban on them; the law was ineffective.
Object number33.622.1
Photo CreditPhoto: Elizabeth Mann
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Chinese Metalwork, July 12 - Nov. 27, 1988. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Timeless Grandeur: Art from China, Apr. 25, 2002 - June 12, 2005. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Chinese Art: A Seattle Perspective, Dec. 22, 2007 - July 26, 2009. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.
Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection
Dimensions4 3/4 x 4 1/8 in. (12.07 x 10.48 cm)
MediumCut gold sheets with incised decoration
Photo: Elizabeth Mann
Chinese
late 7th - 8th century
Object number: 33.622.2
Photo: Paul Macapia
Do Ho Suh
2001
Object number: 2002.43
Photo: Elizabeth Mann
Morris Graves
1945
Object number: 46.219
Image courtesy of the Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection. Photo: Margrit Olsen
Anselm Kiefer
1998
Object number: 2020.15.16
Photo: Susan A. Cole
Stradanus (Jan van der Straet)
ca. 1572
Object number: 2009.1
Photo: Paul Macapia
William Hunt Diederich
ca. 1930
Object number: 33.1883
Phoenixes
Chinese
mid 10th-late 13th century
Object number: 33.103
Tweezers
Peruvian
ca. 1000-1440 A.D.
Object number: 70.114
Photo: National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea
Korean
ca. 500
Object number: 95.63.2
Photo: National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea
Korean
5th century
Object number: 91.116