Lot 567. A pair of miniature gold duck-shaped ornaments, Song-Ming dynasty (960-1644). Duck-shaped ornaments 7/8 in. x 5/8 in. (2.3 x 1.6 cm.), bird ornament 1 1/8 in. (2.8 cm.) long; duck-shaped ornaments total weight 3.2 g. Estimate USD 2,000 - USD 3,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2019.

Each ornament is in the shape of a small duck sitting on a separately-made rectangular lotus leaf with curled edges; together with a miniature filigree bird-form ornament, Ming-Qing dynasty (1368-1911). 

Provenance: Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967) Collection, Sweden, before 1953, nos. 48 and 64.
Sotheby's London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork. Early Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008, lot 86. 

Literature: Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, cat. nos. 48 and 64.
Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pls. 46 and 56.

Exhibited: Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, 1954-55, cat. nos. 48 and 64.

Lot 582. A quadrilobed silver cup, Song-Ming dynasty (960-1644);3 ½ in. (8.9 cm.) wide; weight 43.2 g. Estimate USD 6,000 - USD 8,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2019

The small, quadrilobed cup is decorated in the center of the interior with a reserve of conforming shape worked in repoussé outline that encloses a finely engraved, recumbent deer supporting a medallion incised with a fu character, all below a band of classic scrolls finely punched below the rim on the exterior. 

Provenance: Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967) Collection, Sweden, before 1953.
Sotheby's London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork. Early Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008, lot 105. 

Literature: Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, cat. no. 138.
Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 140. 

Exhibited: Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, 1954-55, cat. no. 138.
New York, Asia House Gallery, Chinese Gold, Silver and Porcelain. The Kempe Collection, 1971, cat. no. 65, an exhibition touring the United States and shown also at nine other museums.

Note: The quadrilobed shape and band of classic scroll seen on this rare cup can also be seen on a gold cup illustrated by Jianshe Yu, ed., Essence of Chifeng Historical Relics Series, Chifeng Jin Yi Qi, 2006, p. 179, pl. CJ122, where it is dated Jin dynasty (1115-1234). Rather than the band of classic scrolls being finely punched, as on the present bowl, it is ring-punched. See, also, the circular gold bowl (8.4 cm. diam.) with a band of punched classic scrolls below the rolled rim, dated Song to Yuan, illustrated in Celestial Creations: Art of the Chinese Goldsmith, The Cheng Xun Tang Collection, vol. I, Art Museum, Institute of Chinese Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007, pp. 234-35, no. D35.