Lot 119. A tall parcel-gilt silver ewer and cover, Ming dynasty, 16th-17th century, 31cm., 12 1/4in. Estimate 8,000 — 12,000 GBP. Lot sold 31,700 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

inspired from a Persian metal form, worked from thin silver sheet with a flattened pear-shaped body tapering into a long neck surmounted by a stepped cover with bud finial, applied with a long tubular 'S'-shaped handle and an elegant dragon-headed 'S'-shaped spout, decorated on each side in repousse with a pear-shaped panel enclosing scholars and immortals in a garden setting, a pomegranate tied with ribbons engraved on each side of the neck, all supported on a high, slighlty splayed foot engraved with a beast and a sea-horse amidst waves. Quantity: 2, Weight 455g.

Exhibited: Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1954-55, cat. no. 151.

The Arts of the Ming Dynasty, Arts Council Gallery, London, 1958, cat. no. 282.

Asia House Gallery, New York, 1971, cat. no. 67

Literature: Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, pl. 151.

Soame Jenyns & William Watson, Chinese Art, The Minor Arts, London, 1963, pl. 36.

Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, cat. no. 152.

Note: The shape of this ewer relates very closely to porcelain vessels of the period, notably blue and white wares, and the rare ewers made in kinrande palette for the Japanese market. A very similar and fine gilt-copper ewer and cover attributed to the sixteenth century, was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 23rd October 2005, lot 404.