TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)

Details

A SMALL CIRCULAR GOLD 'TORTOISE' BOX AND COVER
TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)
1 1/8 in. ( 2.9 cm.) diam.; weight 16.3 g

Provenance

Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967) Collection, Sweden, before 1953, no. CK41.
Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork. Early Gold and Silver; Sotheby's London, 14 May 2008, lot 80.

Literature

Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, cat. p. 20, no. 41.
Bo Gyllensvärd, ‘T’ang Gold and Silver’, Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, No. 29, Stockholm, 1957, fig. 58g.
Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, p. 78, pl. 39.

Exhibited

Copenhagen, Dansk Kunstindustrimuseum, Kinas Kunst i Svensk og Dansk eje, 1950, cat. no. 173.
Washington, D. C., Smithsonian Institution, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, 1954-55, cat. no. 41.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Rufus Chen (陳嘉安) Head of Sale, AVP, Specialist

asianartny@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

During the Tang dynasty, small gold and silver circular boxes were used for various purposes including holding medicinal powders and beauty products. Silver boxes were far more prevalent, many of which were gilded or parcel-gilt, a less expensive alternative to the more prestigious gold. Two other rare, small gold boxes in the collection of Pierre Uldry are illustrated in Chinesisches Gold und Silber, Zürich, 1994, p. 170, nos. 164 and 165.

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