J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art / New York City, New York
MenuPast Exhibition
Silver and Gold in Ancient China
March 16 – April 14, 2012
10.
A LARGE PARCEL-GILT SILVER DISH
Tang Dynasty, A.D. 8th – 9th Century
of shallow circular form with gently rounded flaring sides resting on a wide ring foot, decorated in very low relief in the center with a floral roundel in the form of a continuous scrolling vine bearing three blooms alternating with three large leaves encircling a single bloom from the same vine in the center, all drawn in outline with a strong chased line and picked out in gilding, with finely incised linear details, the mouth with a raised half-round border around the inner rim also picked out in gilding, the underside plain, the ring foot made separately and soldered on, with some bright green patination at the join where the solder has corroded, inscribed on the base with a single character yong (詠) which may be translated as “to sing praise of,” and with other incised symbols including a triangle with two lines forming an acute angle at the apex and associated angular and curved lines clustered near the footrim.
Diameter 9 1⁄2 inches (24.1 cm)
Compare the smaller parcel-gilt silver dish of the same shape, with a similar raised half-round border around the inner rim, decorated with a gilded tiger motif at the center in low relief, excavated from Lijiayingzi, Aohan Banner, Chifeng, Inner Mongolia and now in the Inner Mongolia Museum, illustrated in Chifeng jinyinqi (Important Archaeological Sites for Excavated Gold- and Silverware in Chifeng Region), Huhehaote, 2006, p. 34, no. CJ021, described as Tang period but Sogdian workmanship.
Compare also a smaller Tang parcel-gilt silver dish of lobed form decorated with a similar parcel-gilt floral roundel in the center, discovered at Qujiangchi, in the southern suburbs of Xi’an, Shaanxi province, now in the Xi’an City Cultural Relics Management Authority, illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua dacidian: jin yin yushi juan (The Compendium of Chinese Art: Gold, Silver, Jade and Stones), Hong Kong, 1994, p. 110, no. 71.
唐 鎏金折枝串花紋銀盤 徑 24.1 厘米
10.
A LARGE PARCEL-GILT SILVER DISH
Tang Dynasty, A.D. 8th – 9th Century
Diameter 9 1⁄2 inches (24.1 cm)