Page 97 - 2019 September 12th Christie's New York Chiense Art Masterpieces of Chinese Gold and Silver

A MAGNIFICENT

PARCEL-GILT SILVER BOWL

銀局部鎏金花鳥紋蓮瓣式盌

Robert D. Mowry
Alan J. Dworsky Curator of Chinese Art Emeritus,
Harvard Art Museums, and Senior Consultant, Christie’s
毛瑞
哈佛大學藝術博物館亞洲部榮譽主任
暨佳士得高級顧問

Made during the Tang dynasty (618–907) for a client of elevated stature, perhaps even for a
member of the imperial court, this handsome lotus bowl of hammered silver enhanced with parcel
gilding exemplifes the fnest metalwork of the day. The Tang taste for objects of gold and silver
was inspired by luxury goods crafted in precious metals that were reaching Chang’an (modern
Xi’an), the Tang capital, from ancient Iran via the fabled Silk Route, those imported Iranian goods
often themselves inspired by gold and silver vessels crafted in ancient Rome. In addition to their
connections to the past and to foreign lands, bowls of this type, with their faring lips and S-curved
profles, also herald the future, as they are the ancestors of the comely bowls of imperial Ru ware
produced during the Northern Song period (960–1127) and of the shapely bowls of porcelain made
during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1912) dynasties, which, in turn, inspired not only
European porcelains but the famous bowls made by eighteenth-century American silversmith Paul
Revere (1735–1818). Such elegant Tang silver bowls thus are key players in a story that connects
East and West, just as it links ancient and modern times.
With stately proportions, S-curved profles, and faring lips, silver bowls of this type introduced
a new interpretation of the traditional Chinese bowl shape, which was proportionally taller and
had a straight, vertical lip, rather than a faring lip. Conceived as an open lotus blossom, this
bowl boasts three tiers of overlapping lotus petals on its exterior walls, each tier with eight boldly
framed, repoussé petals, the petals of each tier larger than those of the tier below to accommodate
the design to the expanding side walls. The compressed register at the very top of the bowl, just
below the faring lip, includes eight narrow petals, the spaces between them afording a view of
the stamens and pistils at the blossom’s heart. The tops of the petals in the three main registers
are in the form of fattened ogival arches—some might characterize them as bracketed tops—while

此例唐代 (公元618至907年) 鎏金蓮紋銀盌乃錘揲 按比例來說，中國傳統盌型較高，通常配直口，而
而成，是同期金屬器中的圭臬之作，其主人應是簪 非撇口，但本拍品這類銀盌則比例舒展，輪廓呈S曲
纓世家甚或皇親國戚。唐代金銀器的審美標準，脫 線，敞口，造型一新耳目。此盌狀若綻放的蓮花，
胎於奢華的古伊朗貴重金屬器，它們經舉世聞名的 外壁飾重疊蓮瓣三層，各飾壓花八瓣，棱角分明，
絲綢之路流入唐代古都長安 (今西安)，而這些自伊 每層蓮瓣的大小從上至下依次遞減，形成外侈的盌
朗進口器物的雛型則泰半來自古羅馬金銀器。這類 壁。器身頂端即口沿下有一道細窄紋飾帶，內飾
盌源遠流長，且糅合了外來影響，其撇口造型與S 八蓮瓣，間以花芯的雄蕊和雌蕊。在三層主紋飾帶
曲線更開風氣之先，除了是北宋 (公元960至1127 內，蓮瓣上沿形似壓平的尖拱，又如攢尖的圓弧，
年) 汝窯清雅瓷盌的參考原型，亦是明 (公元1368至 而口沿下的小巧蓮瓣則呈尖拱狀。每瓣壓花中央
1644年)、清 (公元1644至1912年) 二代秀美瓷盌的 鏨刻一朵變形花卉，四週襯以牡丹花葉及翱翔的雙
借鑑藍本，這些後期的作品不僅啟發了歐洲瓷器， 鳥，每組重複的圖案左右對稱，雙鳥出現於花卉兩
更影響了十八世紀美國銀匠保羅‧里維爾 (1735至 側。紋飾中出現的葉紋和陪襯的花卉，很可能意味
1818年) 製作的名盌。由此可見，這款造型優美的 着中央花卉及餘者盡皆唐代宮廷盛極一時的牡丹。
唐代銀盌誠為東西滙萃的關鍵實證，也是貫穿古今 牡丹花鳥紋使外壁的蓮瓣更為靈動，內底團花內也
的重要線索。 有與之呼應的花卉正面，後者花開四瓣，每個瓣尖
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