Page 19 - September 23 to 24 Important Chinese Art Christie's NYC

Made during the Tang dynasty (618–907) for a client of and flat base, if with different decorative schemes, including one excavated
elevated stature, perhaps even for a member of the imperial court, these at Hejiacun and two in the collection of the Hakutsuru Museum of Fine Art,
handsome vessels of hammered silver—a bowl and a dish—were formerly Kōbe, Japan. The Hejiacun bowl formed part of the famous hoard of gold
a part of the famous collection assembled by renowned Swedish collector and silver vessels discovered in October 1970 at Hejiacun, in the southern
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Carl Kempe (1884–1967) and thus claim a distinguished, even enviable, part of modern Xi’an, in Shaanxi province. In the analysis of shapes section
provenance. The vessels were ultimately inspired by luxury goods crafted in of his 1999 Research on Tang Gold and Silver, Peking University Professor Qi
precious metals that were reaching Chang’an (modern Xi’an), the Tang capital, Dongfang, who is a renowned authority on Chinese gold and silver, illustrates
from ancient Iran via the fabled Silk Route, those imported Iranian goods and discusses Tang silver bowls with round and flat bottoms, including the
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themselves inspired by gold and silver vessels crafted in ancient Rome. present example, the Hejiacun bowl, and the Hakutsuru bowls. Now in the
collection of the Shaanxi History Museum, Xian, a bowl of similar shape, also
The side walls of this exquisite silver “animals bowl” are gently rounded, with engraved decoration and ring-mat ground but with a splayed footring,
flaring subtly outward to form the lip and curving inward to shape the flat was also recovered in the Hejiacun excavations. The bowl of related shape
base. Engraved and punched decoration covers the exterior of the bowl; the but with engraved and punched decoration in the collection of Pierre Uldry 3
interior, like the base, is unembellished. (Fig. 1) is deeper and, like the Hejiacun bowl, has a footring.
Four tiers of recurring, heart-shaped medallions—Chinese authors term The decoration on this bowl shows kinship to that of other Tang-dynasty
them “peach shaped”—encircle the bowl’s exterior, the tier around the bowls from the late seventh and early eighth century in both subject matter
midsection being the most prominent. Immediately below the plain, narrow and technique of decoration. Representative of the very finest, Tang-dynasty
lip, a lissome floral scroll borders the decorative scheme at the top, a narrow craftsmanship, the gold and silver vessels from the Hejiacun hoard are
band of double, stylized blossoms separating it from the uppermost tier of believed to have been made in workshops in the Xinghua Square area of
decoration; a bird-in-flight appears between each pair of double blossoms. ancient Chang’an (i.e., in the same general area where the Hejiacun cache
Tucked within each heart-shaped medallion a long-tailed quadruped strides was found). The present bowl’s similarity to ones excavated at Hejiacun
toward the viewer’s left; most of the animals are recognizable and include a confirms its Tang-dynasty origins and suggests that it might have been
camel and an elephant, along with boars, foxes, and wolves, among others. produced either in one of those Xinghua Square workshops or in one closely
Such decoration recalls—and was possibly inspired by—the inhabited allied with them.
vine scrolls that were popular in the arts of ancient Rome and that were
transmitted along the Silk Route. The decoration, all of which appears This bowl was shaped from a single piece of silver hammered into shape
against a punched, ring-mat ground—typically called a “fish-roe pattern” or over a matrix, probably of wood. The decorative motifs were either engraved
“pearl ground” in Chinese—is so refined and meticulously finished that it is or chased on the exterior, after which the background areas were punched
difficult to determine whether it was engraved or chased. A liner covers the to create the ring-matted ground. The interior was then lined with a second
bowl’s interior, affording a smooth, even surface. sheet of hammered silver to provide a smooth, even surface and conceal
from view the uneven surfaces created by the designs executed on the
Although most Tang silver bowls—which admittedly are few in number— exterior. The upper edge of the liner was then folded over the bowl’s thin
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have an S-curved profile, a slightly flaring lip, and a short footring, whether lip and hammered into place. Close inspection of the bowl reveals that the
straight or splayed, this rare bowl has vertical side walls and a flat base. It outer rim was then covered with narrow strips of silver, expertly concealing
finds kinship in several similarly shaped bowls with vertical walls, plain lip, the fold-over join between the liner and the exterior of the bowl.

是次拍賣的銀盌與銀盤品相奇佳，兩者均是錘揲而成的唐代 (公元618至 壁，口沿光素，平底，惟紋飾有別。何家村盌出自陝西西安南部何家村1970年10月考古
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907年) 器物，訂製者應是簪纓世冑甚或皇親國戚，它們源於瑞士鑑藏泰斗卡爾‧坎普 發現的一批馳名窖藏金銀器。北京大學齊東方教授是中國金銀器權威，他曾於1999年
(1884至1967年) 舊藏，堪稱系出名門，出處無懈可擊。溯本求源，這類盌盤的藍本應是 發表器型專論《唐代金銀器研究》，文中載錄和探討了唐代圓底與平底銀盌，並論及
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沿絲綢之路運抵唐都長安 (今西安) 的古伊朗貴重金屬奢侈品，而該等進口的伊朗貨物 本拍品、何家村盌，以及白鶴美術館藏兩例。 西安市陝西歷史博物館藏一盌造型類
則大多脫胎於古羅馬金銀器。 似，並且亦飾雕花和魚籽紋地，但底承圈足外撇，此物亦出土自何家村。鄔德禮 (Pierry
Uldry) 珍藏一盌，其器形相近，飾雕花及魚籽紋地，惟盌形較深，且像何家村盌般底
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瑞獸紋銀盌精美無匹，其器壁看似垂直，然細看之下微弧，上方略撇為口沿，下沿內歛 承圈足。
為平底。除了盌底光素，外壁滿飾圖案；器內如底，渾無裝飾。 (圖一)
無論是題材或雕花襯魚籽紋的對比效果，此盌的紋飾俱與七世紀末及八世紀初的唐
盌壁之外環飾四層周而復始、環環相扣的心型團花 (即中國文獻中的「桃形紋」)，器身 盌一脈相承。何家村窖藏金銀器堪稱唐代工藝品的圭臬之作，據說是長安古城興化坊
中段的紋飾尤為突出。唇口細窄光素，其下以一道曼妙的纏枝花卉作為主紋飾帶的上 (即出土何家村窖藏文物一帶) 的製品。本拍品與何家村文物如出一轍，看來應是唐代
沿，它與頂層紋飾之間以圖案化花卉相隔；每組雙花之間以飛鳥相隔。盌身中段每朵 作品無疑，而且很可能出自興化坊或與之關係密切的作坊。
碩大的桃形紋之間，刻飾一隻向觀者左方昂首濶步的四足長尾瑞獸；各類動物多半清
晰可辨，如駱駝和大象，另外還有豕、狐、狼等。這些紋飾使人聯想起 (或取材於) 古羅 此盌是先用整塊銀在可能為以木製成之模内錘成盌的雛型。其紋飾經 鎸刻或鏨刻至
馬藝術中大行其道並經絲路傳入中土的雕填纏枝卷草紋。所有紋飾俱為雕花或鏨花， 外表並用圓形沖子在周邊地子打出細密的小圈。接下來，盌內以另一錘揲銀片製成平
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地子用圓形沖子打出細密小圈，又名「魚籽紋」或「珍珠地」。盌內襯銀片，營造出光滑 滑如鏡的内壁，內襯銀片上沿包鑲細窄的唇口，然後再錘接固定 ，其目的為遮掩錘揲
平整的視覺效果。 和外壁任何鏨刻或圓形沖子留下的蛛絲馬跡。
傳世唐代銀盌為數不多，但多具S曲線，口微撇，矮圈足 (或直或撇)，而是次拍賣的珍 本文探討的另一件拍品乃是局部鎏金銀盤，其內底飾壓花犀牛紋，犀牛立姿四平八穩，
罕銀盌卻為直壁平底。何家村出土一盌及日本神戸白鶴美術館藏兩盌造型相近，亦直 面向觀者左方，背馱精美蓮座，其上供三朵圖案化花卉。此犀牛盤偏淺，壁外侈，呈柔
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