A VERY RARE GILT-SILVER MELON-FORM BOX AND COVER

TANG DYNASTY (618-907)

Details

A VERY RARE GILT-SILVER MELON-FORM BOX AND COVER
TANG DYNASTY (618-907)
Each of the eight lobes finely chased with scrolling, fruit-laden grapevine incorporating birds in alternate lobes, within plain borders, all leaf-gilded and reserved against the fine ring-punched ground, the cover surmounted by the seated figure of a squirrel with fine hair markings holding a bunch of grapes, the small concave center of the base possibly inscribed with a character
3 in. (7.6 cm.) high, box

Provenance

Acquired in Shanghai in the 1950s.

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Lot Essay

A similar silver-gilt lobed melon-form box and cover surmounted by a toad rather than a squirrel, of comparable small size (6.4 cm.), in the Freer Gallery of Art is illustrated in The Freer Gallery of Art: I China, Tokyo, 1971, no. 107 and by B. Gyllensvärd, "T'ang Gold and Silver", BMFEA, no. 29, Stockholm, 1957, pl. 11 (c).

A Technical Examination Report is available upon request.

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