Lot 729. The Collection of Robert H. Ellsworth. A rare parcel-gilt silver reticulated basket-form vessel and cover, China, Tang dynasty (AD 618-907); 10.5 cm high, box; 159 g. Estimate $40,000 - $60,000. Price Realized $173,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2015

Made for drying tea leaves, both the cylindrical vessel and domed cover chased in openwork with geese in flight amidst scrolling grapevine, the censer raised on four leaf-shaped feet, and with an arched handle attached by rings to two flower head loops on the sides, the cover with a border of geese in flight between clouds on a ring-punched ground at the rim

Provenance: The Collection of Robert H. Ellsworth, New York, acquired in Hong Kong, 1993.

Note: A Technical Examination Report is available upon request. 

Christie's. THE COLLECTION OF ROBERT HATFIELD ELLSWORTH PART IV - CHINESE WORKS OF ART: METALWORK, SCULPTURE AND EARLY CERAMICS, 20 March 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza.