Item number: M457

Year: AD 1889-1907

Material: Gold

Size: 65.1 x 44.3 x 4.2 mm

Weight: 37.75 g

Provenance: Mesencheres.fr 2025

This is a hinged pendant case composed of two six-tien “Quynh Dieu Vinh Hao Kim Boi”. The “Quynh Dieu Vinh Hao Kim Boi” was instituted during the reign of Emperor Thành Thái, the tenth ruler of the Nguyễn dynasty, between AD 1907 and 1916, and was awarded exclusively to women.

The pendant case is formed by joining two six-tien gold pendants (Kim Boi, 6 Tien), with their obverses facing outward and their reverses facing inward. The overall form is an elongated oval with an eight-petalled floral outline. At the centre is a rectangular cartouche with inward-curving corners, containing the Chinese characters “琼瑶永好” (Quynh Dieu Vinh Hao), a phrase derived from the Book of Songs (Shijing), in which fine jade is used as a metaphor for the enduring beauty and virtue of women. Surrounding the cartouche are symmetrically arranged phoenix motifs, while the upper portion is decorated with a sun emblem encircled by flames. The two halves of the pendant case are hinged at the top and clasped at the bottom. When the lower clasp is released, the upper and lower covers can be opened outward from both sides. The interior of the front half reveals the reverse of the gold pendant, bearing at its centre the Chinese inscription “成泰年造”, meaning “Made in the reign of Thành Thái”. The interior of the back half contains a filler material, the function of which remains unclear.

The decorative motifs on the surface of the gold pendant were produced by hammering from the reverse to raise the design on the obverse, a technique known as repoussé. Typically, a wooden mould would be placed against the obverse during this process to achieve a more refined relief effect.

Although the pendant case is assembled from kim boi, the hole at the lower end has been filled. It therefore appears that the lower portion was not intended to carry a tassel, unlike standard gold pendants.

In the traditional Nguyễn-dynasty system of rewards, there were originally no honours specifically conferred upon women. From AD 1889, however, during the reign of Emperor Thành Thái, a category of award known as boi was established specifically to honour women; in status, the boi was considered equivalent to the most prestigious male award, the khánh. Although the boi was not legally divided into classes, during the later years of Thành Thái’s reign distinctions in size began to emerge, implicitly creating different grades. The six-Tien gold boi, in the form of an elongated oval with eight petals, was often regarded as the first grade, while the four-Tien gold boi, in the form of a rectangle with rounded, inward-curving corners, was regarded as the second grade.

Emperor Thành Thái, whose personal name was Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Lân, reigned from AD 1889 to 1907 and was the tenth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty. He ascended the throne at a young age and nominally inherited royal authority, but his actual power was heavily constrained by the French colonial administration. After his accession, Thành Thái attempted to reform the court and improve popular welfare, and he displayed concern for national sovereignty and an anti-colonial stance, which gradually aroused French suspicion. In AD 1907, dissatisfied with French interference in his authority to appoint officials, he was deposed by the French on the pretext of mental instability, and his seven-year-old son, Emperor Duy Tân, was installed as the new ruler. As Duy Tân grew older, his dissatisfaction with French domination in Vietnam steadily increased. In AD 1916, the Vietnamese resistance organisation the Restoration Society (Quang Phục Hội) secretly contacted Duy Tân and planned an uprising, taking advantage of France’s preoccupation with the First World War and the reluctance of Vietnamese soldiers to be deployed to Europe. Duy Tân expressed his support, but the uprising ultimately failed. After its failure, unwilling to remain a puppet of the French, Duy Tân abdicated the throne and was subsequently exiled together with his father, Emperor Thành Thái, to the French colony of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. In AD 1947, Thành Thái was permitted to return to Vietnam. He died in Saigon in AD 1954.

物件編號: M457

年代: 公元 1889-1907 年

材質: 黃金

尺寸: 65.1 x 44.3 x 4.2 mm

重量: 37.75 g

來源: 法國梅桑謝爾 2025

這是一枚以兩枚六錢「琼瑶永好金佩」(Quynh Dieu Vinh Hao Kim Boi)組合而成的掛墜盒。「琼瑶永好金佩」由越南阮朝第10任皇帝，成泰帝統治年間創制 (公元1907至1916年)，專門頒發給女性。

掛墜盒外觀以兩枚六錢金佩(Kim Boi, 6 Tien)組合而成，正面朝外，背面朝內，形制為八瓣花狀的長型橢圓，中央有一個四角內收的長方形方框，其中為漢字「琼瑶永好」，語出中國古籍《詩經》，以美玉形容女子美貌與美德的恆久。字框周圍以對稱的鳳凰作為裝飾，頂部則是帶有火焰的太陽圖騰。掛墜盒兩蓋自上端鉸接，下端扣合。下端扣鉤鬆脫後，上下蓋可以自兩側旋開。掛墜盒正面內部為金佩背面，中央為漢字「成泰年造」；背面內部裝有填料，用處不明。

金佩表面圖樣是由金匠自背面往正面敲擊，以使正面顯出圖案，即錘壓凸紋術(repoussé)。通常正面會有木模限制，以呈現更細緻的浮雕效果。

掛墜盒雖為金佩組合而成，但下端孔被填充，故下方應未如金佩配墜流蘇。

越南阮朝傳統的獎賞制度上，並沒有針對女性頒發的獎賞。但是公元1889年起，成泰帝在位期間設置專門獎勵女性的「佩」獎賞，「佩」的地位等同於最為尊貴的男性獎賞「磬」。「佩」於法理上雖不分等級，但是到成泰帝執政後期，形制開始有大小之分，於是也隱然有等級之別。六錢重的金佩為八瓣花狀的長型橢圓，經常被視為第一等級；四錢重的金佩為四角收圓的長方形，被視為第二等級。

成泰帝，原名阮福寶嶙，於公元1889至1907年在位，是阮朝第十位皇帝。他於少年時即位，名義上承繼王權，實際統治則深受法國殖民當局牽制。成泰帝即位後，嘗試整頓朝政、改善民生，並表現出對國家主權的關切與反殖民的態度，因而逐漸引起法方警惕。公元1907年，成泰帝不滿法國人干涉其任命官員的權力，遭到法國人以精神狀況異常為由罷黜並改立其年僅七歲的兒子維新帝成為新統治者。然而維新帝成年之後，對於法國人在越南的跋扈行為不滿日益增加。恰巧公元1916年，越南反抗組織光復會秘密連繫到維新帝，決定利用法國投身第一次世界大戰無暇關注越南和越南籍士兵不想派駐歐洲的情緒發動起義，維新帝表達支持但是起義最終失敗。起義失敗後，維新帝不甘擔任法國人的魁儡決定退位，後續隨同父親成泰帝一同被流放到法國於印度洋的殖民地留尼旺島。公元1947年，成泰帝獲准返越。公元1954年，成泰帝於西貢逝世。