Court Necklace
Original Language Title象牙朝珠
CultureChinese
DateQing dynasty (1644-1911)
MediumIvory, glass, silk, and metal
DimensionsOverall: 60 inches (152.4 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number33-806/1
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionIvory globules with figures in landscape settings etched on their surface. Separated into equal parts by four large green beads of dyed ivory. Three cords of nine inches and one of fourteen inches strung with green beads suspended from main strand.Exhibition HistoryEmperors, Scholars and Temples: Tastemakers of China’s Ming and Qing Dynasties, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, August 19th, 2016 - January, 2017.
The court necklace functioned as both imperial insignia and personal ornament. Necklaces’ material could vary from luxurious pearls to humble plant seeds, depending on the owner’s rank and the occasion for which it was worn. This necklace, made from ivory beads with figures and landscapes etched on the surface, probably belonged to a mid-level official.
C. Frances Bieber;
Purchased from C. Frances Bieber by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1933.
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2018.72.109
