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Necklace
Sui dynasty (581–619)
Gold inlaid with pearl and stone
L. 16 7/8 in. (43 cm)
Excavated from the tomb (dated 608) of Li Jingxun, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, 1957
National Museum of China
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Made of gold, pearls, lapis lazuli, and other stones, this exquisite necklace is one of the few examples of jewelry found in Chinese tombs of the sixth and seventh centuries. It adorned the young princess Li Jingxun, when she was laid to rest in 608. The combination of Mediterranean and Iranian taste in the design elements suggests a place of manufacture in Iran or western Central Asia, in a region where these two worlds met. It seems likely that the necklace reached China via trade along the Silk Road.
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