Slender Gold Script

440, Lot: 569. Estimate $100. Sold for $150. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CHINA, Northern Sòng dynasty. Huīzōng. AD 1100-1125. Æ 10 Wén (41mm, 18.79 g). Cast AD 1102-1106. dà guān tōng bǎo in shòujīnshū Hànzì (slender gold script) characters / Blank. Hartill 16.426. Good VF, green patina, some red and white deposits.

Emperor Huīzōng was a consummate artist, excelling in painting, poetry, and calligraphy. The ‘slender gold’ style, though originating in the Tang dynasty, was particularly favored by the emperor. Unfortunately for the Sòng, Huīzōng’s passion for art left him unprepared to handle the crisis presented by an invading Jin army, eventually leading to the capture of his court and the loss of half the empire to barbarian conquest.