Lot 811. A very rare large and finely chased silver shell-form box, Tang dynasty (618-907); 4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm.) wide, cloth box. Estimate USD 150,000 – USD 180,000. © Christie's 2023

Realistically formed as a clam shell with silver hinge at one side, the box is decorated on the exterior of each half with birds amidst exotic blooms and lush foliage borne on scrolling stems, all reserved on a fine ring-punched ground.

Provenance: Acquired in Macau, 1985.
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. x2630.

Note: A smaller Tang-dynasty chased silver clamshell-form box decorated with a peacock and a phoenix amidst dense scrolling foliage on a punched ground is in the Freer Gallery of Art and illustrated in Masterpieces of Chinese and Japanese Art: the Freer Gallery of Art Handbook, Washington D.C., 1976, p. 24, no. 30.50. A smaller (2 5/8 in.) Tang-dynasty parcel gilt clamshell-form silver box decorated with birds in the collection of The Art Institute of Chicago is illustrated by H. Trubner in The Arts of the T’ang Dynasty, Los Angeles, 1957, p. 125, no. 354. Another related example, decorated with birds and otter, from the Carl Kempe Collection, is illustrated in Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Ulricehamn, 1999, p. 185, no. 137.

Christie's. J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 23.03.2023