Page 150 - Sotheby's Junkunc Collection March 2019

133 A RARE ENGRAVED GILT-BRONZE STEM CUP
LATE TANG DYNASTY
唐末 銅鎏金鏨海獸紋花式盃

the cup of elliptical octafoil form, embossed on either side with semicircles and raised on a splayed quatrefoil base formed
by four lotus petals with extravagantly everted edges forming the foot, the interior centered with a single lappet in relief and
engraved with fish and mythical beasts amidst dense overlapping waves, with floral sprays and scrolling leaves to the sides,
the exterior of the cup plain, applied overall with a rich gilding, the surface flaked in parts revealing the bronze body
Width 4¾ in., 12 cm

$ 50,000-70,000

PROVENANCE 來源
Frank Caro, successor to C.T. Loo, New York, 11th 弗蘭克•卡羅（盧芹齋繼任人），紐約，1954年10月11日
October 1954. 史蒂芬•瓊肯三世（1978年逝）收藏
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).

Elegant lobed drinking cups such as this example are shaped after Sassanian gold, silver and glass prototypes, and
were introduced into the repertoire of the Chinese craftsmen from the 7th century. Two Sassanian cups from this
period and of the same unusual elliptical outline are preserved in the Shōsō-in in Nara, Japan, a repository that was
sealed in 756 AD, see Treasures of the Shōsō-in Middle Section, Tokyo, 1960, pls 5 and 56.

Stem cups of this lobed form are relatively rare, but a number of similar examples in gilt-bronze and silver-gilt
were discovered as part of the Beihuangshan hoard, discovered in Shaanxi province, fifteen of which were sold by
Yamanaka & Co. to the British Museum, London in 1925, see R.L. Hobson, ‘A T’ang Silver Hoard’, British Museum
Quarterly, vol. 1, no. 1, May 1926, pl. IXa. Another silver stem cup of very similar form was also sold by Yamanaka in
1921 to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and included in the exhibition Early Chinese Gold & Silver, China
House Gallery, New York, 1972, cat. no. 79.

An eight-lobed parcel-gilt silver stem cup, also decorated with fish, formerly in the Eumorfopoulos Collection and
now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, was included in the exhibition The Arts of the T’ang Dynasty, Los
Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, 1957, cat. no. 339. Another, also in silver, with a similar petal design at the foot,
was included the Exhibition of Chinese Art, C.T. Loo & Co., New York, 1941, cat. no. 183. Compare also a silver-gilt stem
cup, formerly in the collection of Hon. Sen. Hugh Scott, sold in these rooms, 4th June 1985, lot 33, and another from
the collection of Carl Kempe, sold in our London rooms, 14th May 2008, lot 51.

如本品之花式盃形仿薩珊王朝金、銀及琉璃器，於七世紀 Chinese Gold & Silver》，China House Gallery，紐
傳予中國藝匠。比較兩薩珊王朝盃例，盃口與本品同樣呈 約，1972年，編號79。
橢圓形，製作時期相近，現存於日本奈良正倉院，該院創
庫封於756年，見《正倉院寶物 中倉》，東京，1960年， 再參考一銀局部鎏金花式高足盃例，曾屬Eumorfopoulos
圖版5及56。 收藏，現存於維多利亞及阿爾伯特博物館，曾展於《The
Arts of the T’ang Dynasty》，洛杉磯郡博物館，1957
此類高足盃甚為罕見，唯可參考數銅鎏金及銀鎏金例，陝 年，編號339。另見一銀盃例，足飾相近花瓣紋，曾展於
西出土，其中十五件由山中商會於1925年售予倫敦大英 《Exhibition of Chinese Art》，盧芹齋，紐約，1941
博物館，見 R.L. Hobson，〈‘A T’ang Silver Hoard’〉 年，編號183。再比一例，銀鎏金高足盃，出自Hon. Sen.
，《British Museum Quarterly》，期1，編號1，1926 Hugh Scott 收藏，售於紐約蘇富比1985年6月4日，編
年5月，圖版IXa。再比一銀高足盃例，器型相近，山中 號33，另一例出自 Carl Kempe 收藏，售於倫敦蘇富比
商會1921年售予紐約大都會藝術博物館，曾展於《Early 2008年5月14日，編號51。

148 JUNKUNC: ARTS OF ANCIENT CHINA