Lot Essay
There appears to be a small, known group of related, beaten and parcel-gilt silver bowls in the shape of an open lotus flower. They fall broadly into two categories - those with chased decoration on the interior base, as in the present example, and those with high relief cast decoration in the same place.
A larger bowl, but with the closest similar configuration of decoration to the present example - the interior with chased decoration of birds and animals, and the lotus petals without the addition of the bird motifs is in the Uldry collection, published in Chinesisches Gold Und Silber, Zurich, 1994, pp. 154 and 155 and included by Messrs. Eskenazi in the exhibition, Chinese and Korean Art from the Collections of Dr. Franco Vannotti, Hans Popper and Others, London, 1989, Catalogue, no. 60. Another bowl of this kind in the Freer Gallery is included in the handbook of the collection, Masterpieces of Chinese and Japanese Art, Washington, D.C., 1976, p. 25.
Examples of bowls with chased decoration on the interior base similar to the present bowl include the one formerly in the Frederick M. Mayer Collection, and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, included in the exhibition, The Arts of the T'ang Dynasty, Los Angeles County Museum, 1957, Catalogue, no. 334; and published by Bo Gyllensvard in B.M.F.E.A., Stockholm, 1957, no. 29, pl. 3b. However, the Metropolitan bowl differs from the present bowl in having extra birds in the lotus petals and a different display of animals. Another example of this kind, which has been widely published, is the bowl in the Asia Society, New York, from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection. Both bowls were included in the exhibition, Chinese Gold and Silver in American Collections, Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, 1984, Catalogue, nos. 13 and 12 respectively. Another similar bowl is in the collection of the Museum of Far Eastern Art, Cologne.
An example with interior repouss decoration of dragons, fish and waves, and on the exterior extra repouss petals between the larger lotus petals, is in the Hakutsuru Art Museum, included in Masterpieces from the Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum, Kobe, 1989, p. 38. Another bowl of this kind is in the Nelson-Atkins Museum, published in the Handbook of the Collections in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City, 1959, p. 180. Both bowls were illustrated by Henry Trubner in the Catalogue of the exhibition, The Arts of the T'ang, Los Angeles County Museum, 1957, nos. 333 and 332 respectively.
During the Tang, luxury goods in gold and silver were not often used for burial, although a number of large hoards have been discovered which have helped, to a certain extent, to date the metalwork. The Heijiacun find near Xi'an is believed to have been buried in A.D. 755 at the time of the An Lushan rebellion and the flight of the Emperor Xuande from the capital. It contained over 270 pieces of gold and silver, including many which showed the influence of foreign shapes, decoration and decorative techniques. Another hoard containing 960 items at Ding Maoqiao, Jiangsu province has been given a suggested burial date of A.D. 760. The present bowl appears to be of a similar date; its shape and the use of finely chased decoration enhancing the sculptural quality of the piece compares favorably with the gold petal-form bowl with a beaded foot from the Hejiacun find illustrated in Tangdai Jinyiqi, Beijing, 1985, col. pl. 2.
It has been suggested that the lotus form of the bowl was inspired by Buddhist vessels, possibly Indian in origin. However, as Bo Gyllensvard points out in B.N.F.E.A., Stockholm, 1957, no. 29, p. 77, there are related forms in yueyao cups with double whorls of lotus petals and in contemporary candlesticks where a lotus flower forms the base (see lot 51). Clarence Kelly suggests, in the Catalogue of the exhibition, Chinese Gold and Silver in American Collections, Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, 1984, p. 21, that the landscape setting and elements such as rocks, plants, birds and animals scattered across the surface of such metalwork vessels may be Near Eastern in origin. Similarly, a Near Eastern source has also been posited for a variety of the floral scrolls, such as the lotus, palmette and peony scroll, although the influence of Chinese architectural carvings has also been pointed out for many of these. The formal arrangement of elements on the petals may also be suggestive of Near Eastern influences. Whatever the origin of the form, techniques and decorative motifs, it is evident from the present bowl that the early Tang metalworkers were able to assimilate and transcend these elements to produce a vessel that is uniquely Chinese.
See also Pottery and Metalwork in T'ang China, Colloquies on Art and Archaeology in Asia No. I, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, 1976, "Iranian Silver and Its Influence in T'ang China" by Souren Melikian where the author persuasively argues the Tang debt to Sogdian silver rather than Sasanian silver, which had hitherto gained universal acceptance.
A larger bowl, but with the closest similar configuration of decoration to the present example - the interior with chased decoration of birds and animals, and the lotus petals without the addition of the bird motifs is in the Uldry collection, published in Chinesisches Gold Und Silber, Zurich, 1994, pp. 154 and 155 and included by Messrs. Eskenazi in the exhibition, Chinese and Korean Art from the Collections of Dr. Franco Vannotti, Hans Popper and Others, London, 1989, Catalogue, no. 60. Another bowl of this kind in the Freer Gallery is included in the handbook of the collection, Masterpieces of Chinese and Japanese Art, Washington, D.C., 1976, p. 25.
Examples of bowls with chased decoration on the interior base similar to the present bowl include the one formerly in the Frederick M. Mayer Collection, and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, included in the exhibition, The Arts of the T'ang Dynasty, Los Angeles County Museum, 1957, Catalogue, no. 334; and published by Bo Gyllensvard in B.M.F.E.A., Stockholm, 1957, no. 29, pl. 3b. However, the Metropolitan bowl differs from the present bowl in having extra birds in the lotus petals and a different display of animals. Another example of this kind, which has been widely published, is the bowl in the Asia Society, New York, from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection. Both bowls were included in the exhibition, Chinese Gold and Silver in American Collections, Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, 1984, Catalogue, nos. 13 and 12 respectively. Another similar bowl is in the collection of the Museum of Far Eastern Art, Cologne.
An example with interior repouss decoration of dragons, fish and waves, and on the exterior extra repouss petals between the larger lotus petals, is in the Hakutsuru Art Museum, included in Masterpieces from the Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum, Kobe, 1989, p. 38. Another bowl of this kind is in the Nelson-Atkins Museum, published in the Handbook of the Collections in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City, 1959, p. 180. Both bowls were illustrated by Henry Trubner in the Catalogue of the exhibition, The Arts of the T'ang, Los Angeles County Museum, 1957, nos. 333 and 332 respectively.
During the Tang, luxury goods in gold and silver were not often used for burial, although a number of large hoards have been discovered which have helped, to a certain extent, to date the metalwork. The Heijiacun find near Xi'an is believed to have been buried in A.D. 755 at the time of the An Lushan rebellion and the flight of the Emperor Xuande from the capital. It contained over 270 pieces of gold and silver, including many which showed the influence of foreign shapes, decoration and decorative techniques. Another hoard containing 960 items at Ding Maoqiao, Jiangsu province has been given a suggested burial date of A.D. 760. The present bowl appears to be of a similar date; its shape and the use of finely chased decoration enhancing the sculptural quality of the piece compares favorably with the gold petal-form bowl with a beaded foot from the Hejiacun find illustrated in Tangdai Jinyiqi, Beijing, 1985, col. pl. 2.
It has been suggested that the lotus form of the bowl was inspired by Buddhist vessels, possibly Indian in origin. However, as Bo Gyllensvard points out in B.N.F.E.A., Stockholm, 1957, no. 29, p. 77, there are related forms in yueyao cups with double whorls of lotus petals and in contemporary candlesticks where a lotus flower forms the base (see lot 51). Clarence Kelly suggests, in the Catalogue of the exhibition, Chinese Gold and Silver in American Collections, Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, 1984, p. 21, that the landscape setting and elements such as rocks, plants, birds and animals scattered across the surface of such metalwork vessels may be Near Eastern in origin. Similarly, a Near Eastern source has also been posited for a variety of the floral scrolls, such as the lotus, palmette and peony scroll, although the influence of Chinese architectural carvings has also been pointed out for many of these. The formal arrangement of elements on the petals may also be suggestive of Near Eastern influences. Whatever the origin of the form, techniques and decorative motifs, it is evident from the present bowl that the early Tang metalworkers were able to assimilate and transcend these elements to produce a vessel that is uniquely Chinese.
See also Pottery and Metalwork in T'ang China, Colloquies on Art and Archaeology in Asia No. I, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, 1976, "Iranian Silver and Its Influence in T'ang China" by Souren Melikian where the author persuasively argues the Tang debt to Sogdian silver rather than Sasanian silver, which had hitherto gained universal acceptance.