Gold Crown from Cheonmachong Tomb

Cheonmachong, or the “Heavenly Horse Tomb,” was named after the discovery of a painted birch-bark saddle flap depicting a winged horse during its excavation in 1973. Among the six Silla gold crowns identified to date, the crown from this tomb is the largest and heaviest. It is also the most elaborate, with the richest array of ornaments, including an unparalleled fifty-eight curved jade pendants.
The crown consists of a headband with three tree-shaped uprights and two antler-shaped uprights, placing it in the same group as the crowns from the Northern Mound of Hwangnamdaechong Tomb, the Geumgwanchong Tomb, and the Seobongchong Tomb. However, its tree-shaped uprights bear four tiers of branches, a feature shared with the crown from the Geumryeongchong Tomb. The edges of the uprights are incised with double rows of circular motifs, from which curved jades and round pendants hang on gold wires. The upper and lower borders of the headband are decorated with paired triangular designs enclosing wave patterns punctuated by small circles. At the center of the band, three tiers of embossed roundels project forward, suspending additional jades and pendants. On either side of the band hang sets of pendants: each set consists of a thin central ring from which chains with pen-nib-shaped finials descend in elegant sequence.