University of Alberta Museums Search

Translation of the Chinese text: "Golden diadem jinyue for the Empress Dowager and Empress/In accordance with the decree of the present dynasty:/The golden diadem of the Empress Dowager and Empress is engraved with thirteen golden clouds, each ornamented with one eastern pearl, and with blue stones interspersed with golden stones and an [interior] red band that has gold [design] on the facing. At the back is golden plaque inlaid with spaced green turquoise stones, from which pearls trail down in five strings and in three registers./Altogether there are 324 pearls, each string threaded with a large pearl. At the center there are ornaments of gold, lapis lazuli and precious gems that are combined in a knot, and each knot is decorated with eight eastern pearls and eight gems apiece, the ends adorned in coral. "

(Translated and transcribed by Lisa Claypool, Ed., China’s Imperial Modern: The Painter’s Craft, Edmonton, AB: University of Alberta Museums, 2012, p.102)

On the reverse of the piece "(14)" is handwritten in pencil on the upper right corner.