This is one of the finest silver objects from the Tang dynasty now in the Freer collection. With fourteen lotus petals in relief and a richly gilded surface, this bowl was assembled from three separately crafted pieces of hammered silver. The flaring wall was first created as a flat belt; after it was shaped and decorated with relief, chased, and ring-punched elements, its two ends were joined with silver solver to form a cylinder. The circular floor of the vessel—the chased decoration on the exterior is only visible when the piece is inverted—was later attached to the cylindrical ring with silver solder. The decorated foot, hammered from yet another piece of silver, was also affixed using silver solder. The joins are only faintly visible on the finished piece where corrosion has appeared along the solder lines. After assembly, elements of the decoration were further enriched with gilding that was so carefully and heavily applied it resembles inlay. 

This piece is related to gilt silver bowls now in the collections of the Asia Society in New York and of the Hakutsuru Museum in Kobe, Japan. Although none of these objects has a known provenance, each can be compared to a gold bowl decorated with lotus petals that was found in the cache burial excavated at Hejiacun [linkage to an article] in Chang’an (modern Xi’an, Shaanxi province), within the Tang walled capital district. The Hejiacun bowl has been dated to the late seventh or early eighth century.