Page 141 - 2019 September 12th Christie's New York Chiense Art Masterpieces of Chinese Gold and Silver

A gold cup, dated Song dynasty, with deep, rounded sides raised on a low, spreading pedestal
foot and similarly chased below the thickened rim with a foliate scroll band, in The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York, is illustrated by Dr. Paul Singer, Early Chinese Gold & Silver, China
Institute in America, New York, 1971-1972, p. 69, no. 99. The cup retains one of a pair of repoussé,
lion-form handles applied to the side. A gold cup (8.5 cm. diam.) with a band of lingzhi chased on
the exterior below the rolled rim, and with a leafy peony stem chased in the bottom of the interior
is illustrated by Jianshe Yu, ed., Essence of Chifeng Historical Relics Series, 2006, p. 177, pl. CJ120,
where it is dated Jin dynasty. Unlike the present gold cup, it does not have a handle and rests on
a fat base. Also illustrated, p. 182, pl. CJ126, is a silver cup (8 cm. diam.) raised on a foot, with a
lingzhi-form handle on one side and a band of foliate scroll chased in stippling below the rim on
the exterior, which is dated Yuan dynasty. A gold bowl (8.4 cm. diam.) dated Song-Yuan illustrated
by Peter Y. K. Lam, ed., Celestial Creations: Art of the Chinese Goldsmith, The Cheng Xun Tang
Collection, Art Museum, Institute of Chinese Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007,
pp. 234, no. D35, has a band of classic scroll punched below the rolled rim. A related silver cup,
also with a repoussé handle, in the collection of Pierre Uldry, is illustrated in Chinesisches Gold
und Silber, Zurich, 1994, p. 224, no. 261, where it is dated 13th-14th century, Xixia or Yuan dynasty.
Unlike the medallion of fowering peony stems engraved in the center of the gold cup, the silver
cup is engraved in the center with the lanca character, om, implying a Buddhist context for the cup.

The loose gold ring suspended from the dragon-head handle may relate this cup to nomadic
culture, as the ring would have allowed the cup to be hung from a belt. In general, gold utensils
were held in high esteem at the Mongol court, as can be seen by several gold vessels from Inner
Mongolia illustrated by James C. Y. Watt et al., The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan
Dynasty, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, pp. 6-7, fg, 3, a gold stem cup, fg.
4, a lobed cup with ring handle below a shaped thumbpiece, and fg. 5, a lobed bowl and a lobed
cup stand, the latter two dated Xixia dynasty (1018-1127). All of these have a narrow band of foliate
scroll below the rim.

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