A SMALL FINELY ENGRAVED GILT-SILVER STEM CUP
A SMALL FINELY ENGRAVED GILT-SILVER STEM CUP
A SMALL FINELY ENGRAVED GILT-SILVER STEM CUP
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A SMALL FINELY ENGRAVED GILT-SILVER STEM CUP
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Please note that this lot is subject to an import … Read more ANOTHER PROPERTY
A SMALL FINELY ENGRAVED GILT-BRONZE STEM CUP

TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)

Details
A SMALL FINELY ENGRAVED GILT-BRONZE STEM CUP
TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)
The deep sides of the cup and the spreading foot are engraved with a wide band of leafy flower scroll reserved on a ring-punched ground between narrow bands of similar decoration above and below. The cup is covered overall in thick, well-preserved gilding.
2 5⁄8 in. (6.8 cm.) high, Japanese wood box
Provenance
Eurasian-Art Inc., Tokyo, 1 May 1997.
Special notice
Please note that this lot is subject to an import tariff. The amount of the import tariff due is a percentage of the final hammer price plus buyer's premium. The buyer should contact Post Sale Services prior to the sale to determine the estimated amount of the import tariff. If the buyer instructs Christie's to arrange shipping of the lot to a foreign address the buyer will not be required to pay the import tariff, but the shipment may be delayed while awaiting approval to export from the local government. If the buyer instructs Christie's to arrange shipping of the lot to a domestic address, if the buyer collects the property in person, or if the buyer arranges their own shipping (whether domestically or internationally), the buyer will be required to pay the import tariff. For the purpose of calculating sales tax, if applicable, the import tariff will be added to the final hammer price plus buyer's premium and sales tax will be collected as per The Buyer's Premium and Taxes section of the Conditions of Sale.
Sale room notice

Please note this lot is gilt-bronze and not gilt-silver.

請注意,此件拍品為銅鎏金而非銀鎏金。

Brought to you by

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

Lot Essay


This superbly engraved stem cup exemplifies the refinement of Tang dynasty metalwork. A cup of this form decorated with scrolling vines and grape leaves was unearthed from the reliquary chamber of the pagoda at the Qingshan Temple in Lindongxian, Shaanxi province. The construction of the temple was begun in 736, and in 740 the reliquary was placed in the subterranean chamber of the pagoda along with other objects of gold, silver, bronze and ceramic.

Other cups of this shape with varying foliate scroll decoration are in private and public collections, and include one illustrated by B. Gyllensvard, Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, no. 102; one illustrated in Ancient Chinese Arts in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1989, no. 320; one in the collection of Senator Hugh Scott, illustrated in the Golden Age of Chinese Art, 1970, no. 18; one in the collection of Ostasiatische Kunstabteilung, Berlin, included in the Exhibition of Chinese Art, Berlin, 12 January - 2 April 1929, no. 438; and another from the Erwin Harris Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 16 March 2017, lot 876 (part).

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