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- Amber and Pearl Ear Pendants,
Liao dynasty 907-1125, excavated in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous region.
come. Instead of saying that amber only comes from Burma or from along the Silk Road, Chinese scholars now believe the amber may come from indigenous sites. During the Han dynasty, large quantities of coal were mined for metal ore smelt�ing. Amber veins were probably discovered within the coal seams.
Amber must have been popular during the golden age known as the Tang dynasty (618-906) as evidenced by its frequent mention in Tang poet�ry and its use as a colour word to describe wine as well as the amber inlay objects found in Shoso-in in Japan, which were discussed earlier.
There has been a sizeable amount of amber ornaments excavated from tombs dating to the Song dynasty (960-1279) along with contemporary non-Chinese dynasties in the north like the Khitan Liao (906-1125), the Jurched Jin (1115-1234) and the Mongol Yuan (1271-1368). The greatest amber finds in China have come from Liao imperial tombs located in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region at Zhelimou, where 2,101 amber pieces were found. These outstanding amber examples, which are illustrated in Liao Chcnguo Gongzhu Mu, Beijing, 1993, include sculptures, elaborate earrings, headdresses, necklaces and amulets of birds, fish, cicada, flowers, and dragons.
During the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), amber continued to be somewhat popular.
One of the finest Ming amber specimens comes from a tomb excavated in Jiangningxian county in Jiangsu province.
It is a cup (12.8 cm wide, 4.8 cm high) with a handle of an outward leaning man with a fish in one hand.
Amber Carvings of the Qing Dynasty
Cup with handle of outward leaning man holding a fish, Ming dynasty 1368-1644, excavated from a tomb in Jiangning county in Jiangsu province.
During the last imperial dynasty in China, the Manchu Qing (1644-1911), amber was readily available, carved in great quantity and underwent its most glorious age in China. A number of factors, such as political stability, prosperity in the economy, growth in foreign trade, and greater attention to the arts, all combined to bring about a strong amber carving industiy. The amber material arriving at the workshops was greater than ever, with a wider variety of colours and the conspicious feature of much of the Qing amber is its large size. This allowed the themes of the carvings to become
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