Page 35 - Chiense Silver and Gold, 2012, J.J. Lally, New York

13. A P arcel-Gilt Silver P ouring Bowl And S tand
Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618–907)

the quatrefoil bowl with steeply rounded sides rising to an everted rim interrupted by a wide gutter-
shaped spout and resting on a high ring foot, decorated on the interior with an engraved and
gilded medallion of twin ducks with wings displayed, flying in a circle and each holding in its beak
a scrolling stem sprouting twin flowers, trefoil leaves and scrolling tendrils, all reserved on a ring-
punched ground and enclosed within a border of overlapping petals; the stand in the form of a
large flower with shallow sides divided into eight wide petals radiating from an engraved ring of
linked circles enclosing pointed bosses rising from a narrow gilded band, the gilded band with an
inner diameter matching the diameter of the foot of the pouring bowl, the stand also raised on a
high ring foot decorated with a gilded border of small engraved circles and the tips of the petals
around the rim touched with gilding.
Length of pouring bowl with spout 7 inches (17.8 cm)
Diameter of stand 5 ⁄4 inches (14.5 cm)
3
Compare the parcel-gilt silver pouring bowl (yi) decorated with twin ducks and flower sprays on the exterior discovered in
a Tang dynasty hoard at Hejiacun and now in the collection at the Shaanxi History Museum, illustrated in Hua wu da Tang
chun: Hejiacun yibao jingcui (Selected Treasures from Hejiacun Tang Hoard), Beijing, 2003, pp. 244–247, no. 65, where the
author cites one other silver yi from the tomb of Shui Qiu as the only comparable example, and states that silver yi vessels
are very rare in the Tang dynasty.
The second Tang silver yi mentioned above, unearthed from the tomb of Shui Qiu in Lin’an, Zhejiang province, is illustrated
as a line drawing by Han in Hai nei wai Tang dai jinyinqi cui bian (Selections of Tang Gold and Silver Wares from Inland and
Overseas), Xi’an, 1989, p. 145, no. 284.
Compare the two gilt-silver flower-form cupstands with wide petal-lobed rims, one dated by inscription to A.D. 860,
discovered in 1957 outside of Hepingmeng at Xi’an, Shaanxi province, illustrated in the excavation report in Kaogu, 1959,
No. 11, pl. 6.

唐 鎏金鴛鴦花卉紋銀匜及鎏金蓮瓣銀托 匜長 17.8 厘米 托徑 14.5 厘米