TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)

Details

A SMALL PARCEL-GILT SILVER BOX AND COVER
TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)
The slightly convex box and cover are chased with a formalized flower motif surrounded by small curved tendrils that issue from the narrow, outer border, all reserved on a ring-punched ground. The straight sides are similarly decorated with clouds.
1 in., (2.6 cm.) diam.; weight 8.6 g

Provenance

Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967) Collection, Sweden, before 1953, no. CK91.
Sotheby's London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork. Early Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008, lot 84.

Literature

Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, cat. no. 91.
Bo Gyllensvärd, ‘T’ang Gold and Silver’, Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, No. 29, Stockholm, 1957, fig. 80b.
Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 93.

Exhibited

Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, 1954-55, cat. no. 91.

Lot Essay

Circular silver boxes of this type were made in various sizes and with various designs. A similarly small (2.8 cm. diam.) silver box with different decoration, described as a cosmetic box, is illustrated in Tang, Eskenazi, London, 1987, no. 7.

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