Lot 756. A small finely engraved gilt-silver stem cup, Tang dynasty (AD 618-907); 2 5⁄8 in. (6.8 cm.) high, Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 25,000 – USD 35,000. Price realised USD 37,800. © Christie's 2022

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. 

Provenance: Eurasian-Art Inc., Tokyo, 1 May 1997.

Note: 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).

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 25 march 2022