Page 102 - 2019 September 12th Christie's New York Chiense Art Masterpieces of Chinese Gold and Silver

Representative of the very fnest, Tang-dynasty craftsmanship, the gold and silver vessels from the Hejiacun hoard are
believed to have been made in workshops in the Xinghua Square area of ancient Chang’an (i.e., in the same general
area where the Hejiacun cache was found). The present bowl’s similarity to those excavated at Hejiacun confrms its
Tang-dynasty origins and suggests that it perhaps was produced either in one of those Xinghua Square workshops or
in one closely allied with them.
Stylistically related bowls of hammered silver with chased decoration and parcel gilding appear in the collections of
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the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (F1931.8); the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO (56-72); the
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Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection at The Asia Society, New York (1979.117); the Pierre Uldry Collection,
Zurich, Switzerland; and the Hakutsuru Museum, Kobe, Japan. 7
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Bowls of this type typically have just a single register of lotus petals around the belly, although the exact shape of
the individual petals often varies slightly from vessel to vessel, as does the number of petals (with most bowls having
more than eight petals in the encircling frieze). The bowls’ footrings, if present, vary from bowl to bowl, as well, some
short and straight, others slightly taller and splayed. By contrast, the gold bowl from Hejiacun has two tiers of lotus
petals, and the bottom of its faring footing is beaded. In stark contrast to the others, the present bowl has three tiers
of petals each of which is boldly defned and assertively bordered. In addition, most of the related bowls depict foral
scrolls on the vertically oriented lotus petals and fying birds and frolicking animals in the spaces between the tops of
the lotus petals and the faring lip, the foral scrolls, birds, and animals typically set against a ring-punched ground. And
the decorated foors of some related bowls, including the silver bowl from Hejiacun, feature decoration in bold relief—
sometimes confronting lions, as on the Hejiacun bowl, sometimes dragons cavorting with sea creatures, as on other
bowls—set against engraved background patterns. That the bowls difer one from another, and that the present bowl
difers markedly from the others, simply underscores that each bowl was individually designed and hand-crafted and
that the silver workshops enjoyed considerable freedom in designing their wares.
Although taste for gold and silver bowls of this type would wane by the end of the Tang, these sumptuous bowls would
exert profound infuence on luxury vessels of all succeeding periods. The fnest Yue-ware bowls and dishes would pick
up the Tang silver bowls’ familiar lotus frieze, if in modifed fashion, for example, just as they would adopt the Tang
silver bowls’ faring footring, as witnessed by the famous tenth-century Yue bowl in the Sir Percival David Collection,
now on loan to the British Museum, London (PDF.262). And the Tang silver bowls’ elegant form, stately proportions,
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瓣紋輪廓清晰、區隔分明。此外，近似例的垂直蓮瓣內泰半飾 1786年命人鑴刻的題詠。 而唐代銀盌上的蓮瓣紋，經由上述
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纏枝花卉，瓣尖與敞口之間襯飛鳥瑞獸，而纏枝花卉、飛鳥、 越窯器的過渡，無疑地成爲宋代花口瓷器的靈感來源，現藏臺
瑞獸皆以魚子紋為地。若干近似盌 (包括何家村出土銀盌) 內底 北故宮博物院的汝窯青瓷蓮花式盌即為一例。 中國古代上至天
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凸起的紋飾無不生動活潑，有的像何家村銀盌般飾以雙獅，有 子貴冑，下至藏家學者，對汝窯御瓷無不推崇備至，所以上述
的以龍嬉海獸為題，地子鏨刻各式圖案。這些盌各有不同，本 汝窯瓷盌對後世盌型影響至深，無論是元代 (公元1279至1368
拍品更是不落窠臼，足證每器皆是單獨構思及手工製作，而且 年) 的樞府窯，或是明代的青花瓷和清代 (公元1644至1912年)
銀器作坊享有一定的創作自由。 的琺瑯彩瓷，皆有汝窯形制的影子。自十七世紀以降，中國瓷
雖然到了唐末，此類華美金銀盌的地位已漸不如前，但它們對 器通過國際貿易行銷全球，同時也將這種脫胎於唐代金銀器的
歷代奢華器物的影響極其深遠。以上乘越窯盤盌為例，它們糅 後期陶瓷美學輸出海外，以饗各地藝術同好，亦啟發了古今不
合了唐代銀盌常見的蓮紋飾帶，但細節上略有調整，此外亦承 知幾許陶瓷名家。
襲了唐代銀盌的外撇圈足，現外借倫敦大英博物館展出的大維
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德珍藏公元十世紀越窯名盌 (館藏號PDF.262) 便是一例。 唐
代銀盌造型秀雅、比例舒展、口沿外撇，這些俱是北宋汝窯御
盌的借鑑對象，就此可證諸大英博物館展出的大維德珍藏汝窯
名盌 (館藏號PDF.3)，其底銘有乾隆 (1735至1796年在位) 於

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