Page 66 - Bonhams Chinese Paintings and Works of Art Sept 15, 2015

8071 (box)

Exhibition catalog, Mostra d’Arte Cinese, Venice, 1954 Exhibition catalog, The Arts of the T’ang Dynasty,
The Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1955

8071¤ The lion is an animal not native to China, and the Chinese term 獅子
A SILVER CIRCULAR BOX AND COVER shizi may be derived from the Persian šír: see C. Michaelson, Gilded
Tang dynasty Dragons: Buried Treasures from China’s Golden Ages, London, 1999,
The box and cover finely worked with bands of foliate scrolls on a stippled p. 122. The association of the lion with Buddhism, and with the
ground, enclosing on the slightly domed cover a roaring lion and on the promulgation and defence of this religion, may explain its popularity
flattened box a duck perching on a flowering lotus pod, fitted box. on Tang period objects. The lotus too bears Buddhist connotations
1 5/8in (4cm) diameter of purity, whilst also symbolizing fertility with its prominent seed pod,
$8,000 - 12,000 and the mandarin duck is associated with conjugal happiness. Pairs
of ducks are more commonly found on Tang pieces, whilst the single
唐 銀圓形纏枝紋蓋盒 duck with a lotus is more rare. The combination of all these subtle
references is indicative of the cosmopolitan and religiously diverse
Provenance Tang period, and its pervasive influence on later Chinese dynasties.
Christie’s New York, Important Chinese Works from the Arthur M.
Sackler Collections, sale 8064, 1 December 1994, lot 63
Desmond Gure Collection, no.87 (label)

Exhibited Compare two related boxes and covers from the Collection of Carl
Venice, Mostra d’Arte Cinese, 1954, no. 271 Kempe, with similar scrolls and animal motifs, sold at Sotheby’s London,
London, Oriental Ceramic Society, The Arts of the T’ang Dynasty, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork, Early Gold and Silver;
1955, no. 340 Early Chinese White, Green and Black Wares, sale 8211, 14 May 2008,
lots 42 and 81. Another previously in the Collection of Dr Ip Yee sold at
Sotheby’s New York, sale 9006, 17 September 2013, lot 33.

64 | BONHAMS