Lot 58. A fine silver stemcup, Tang dynasty,  7th-8th century, 6.8cm., 2 5/8 in. Estimate 6,000 — 8,000 GBP. Lot sold 156,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

the deep bowl flaring towards the rim and divided horizontally just below by rim by a single raised band, supported on a knopped stem rising from a wide splayed foot, with some bright malachite green encrustation to the sides. WEIGHT 78.5g.

Literature: Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, pl. 107.  

Note: Undecorated Tang silver pieces are comparatively rare, although the plain surfaces are particularly effective in emphasizing the exquisite Tang shapes with their harmonious profiles and sharp edges. A very similar undecorated silver stemcup was sold in these rooms, 21 June 1983, lot 56; and a copper alloy stemcup of the same shape in the Kuboso Memorial Museum of Art, Izumi, is published in Sekai bijutsu tai zenshu. Toyo hen, vol. 4, Tokyo, 1997, pl.161.   

Compare also an undecorated Tang silver cup with ring handle, with a similar plain raised rib below the rim, excavated at Shapo, Xi'an and now in the Shaanxi History Museum, Xi'an, included in the exhibition The Glory of the Silk Road. Art from Ancient China, Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio, 2003, cat. no.106, together with a decorated silver stemcup of the same shape as the present piece, from the same site but now in the National Museum of Chinese History, Beijing, ibid., cat. no.105.

Sotheby's. London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork: Early Chinese Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008

Lot 47. A fine small silver stemcup, Tang dynasty, late 7th-early 8th century, 5.5cm., 2 1/8 in. Estimate 6,000 — 8,000 GBP. Lot sold 50,900 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

the rounded bowl rising from a short knopped stem and wide flared foot, the body finely chased and engraved with a meandering scrolling vine bearing palmettes and trefoil-shaped leaves, fruit and tendrils, all within a broad central register bordered by narrow silver bands between similar simplified scroll bands encircling the base and rim, a saw-tooth band encircling the flange at the base of the body, the decoration all reserved on a minutely circle-punched ground. WEIGHT 36g.

Exhibited: Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1954-55, cat. no. 102.

Note: Engraved silver stemcups of this form are conceived after Sassanian gold and silver prototypes. Bo Gyllensvard in 'Tang Gold and Silver', Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, no. 29, Stockholm, 1957, pp. 64-65, notes that the form was also copied in India and is depicted in one of the Ajanta cave paintings. Margaret Medley in Metalwork and Chinese Ceramics, London, 1972, p. 5, mentions the adaptation by the Chinese of the Persian stemcup first as a novelty and then as a vessel appropriate to religious purposes in the seventh century. She illustrates ibid., pl. 5, an engraved Tang silver cup together with a Sassanian prototype.  

A cup of this type with chased decoration consisting of lotus scrolls against a ring matted background, from the collection of the Hon. Hugh Scott, was included in the China Institute in America exhibition Early Chinese Gold and Silver, China House Gallery, New York, 1971, cat. no. 47, together with another cup decorated with a design of birds surrounded by lotus scrolls on a similar ground, from the same collection, cat.no. 64, the latter sold in these rooms, 14th July 1981, lot 8, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 19th November 1984, lot 11, from the collection of Dr. Ip Yee.   

Jessica Rawson in 'The Ornament on Chinese silver of the Tang Dynasty', British Museum Occasional Paper, no. 40, pp. 15-16, discusses the vine scroll, a popular ornament in Central Asia, which had already reached China by the fifth century A.D. and enjoyed renewed favour from the beginning of the Tang dynasty. Rawson illustrates a vine scroll inhabited with birds from cave 12 at Yungang, datable to the late fifth century, ibid., pl. 44, together with a Tang silver box in the City of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery decorated with vine scrolls, pl. 45, datable to the seventh or eighth century.   

Sotheby's. London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork: Early Chinese Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008

Lot 55. A silver stemcup, Tang dynasty (618-907), 6.8cm., 2 5/8 in. Estimate 2,000 — 3,000 GBP. Lot sold 11,875GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

the rounded bowl rising from a knopped stem on a splayed base, the body decorated in repoussé with three rows of overlapping lotus petals and an undulating palmette scroll on a ring-matted ground chased around the lipped rim, the foot similarly decorated with stylised palmettes. WEIGHT 74.5g.

Literature: Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, pl. 106.

Sotheby's. London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork: Early Chinese Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008

Silver stemcup with an incised and ring-punched design of archers chasing deer amid a landscape of trees and flowers, Tang dynasty (618-907). Height: 9.8 centimetres; Diameter: 7.7 centimetres (at lip). Bequeathed by Mrs Walter Sedgwick, 1968,0422.10 © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum

Stemcups in gold, silver and gilded bronze were introduced to China from Central Asia and lands further west. They closely resemble the shapes of stemcups used in the Mediterranean area, although the decoration is typically Chinese.

Jade and bronze were traditionally prized by the Chinese as their most valued materials, whereas gold and silver were not so highly rated. However, gold and silver utensils were gradually introduced to China from Central Asia and lands further west. The idea of using these precious metals for religious objects and later secular use was particularly popular with the non-Chinese Buddhist rulers of north China during the period between the Han and Tang dynasties (220-618), and such usage gradually became widespread among the Chinese elite. 

Such hunting scenes were copied from Chinese paintings, lacquer designs and tomb murals. The mounted archer is also often found on Tang dynasty artefacts, such as woven and printed silks from Turfan in Central Asia.  

Stemmed wine cup with floral scrolls, China, Shaanxi province, probably Xi’an, early or mid-Tang dynasty, late 7th–early 8th century. Cast bronze with chased and ring-punched decoration and mercury gilding. Gift of Charles Lang Freer, Freer Gallery of Art,  F1911.70 © 2017 Smithsonian Institution

Lot 59. A fine and very rare parcel-gilt 'rhinoceros' silver dish , Tang dynasty, 8th-9th century, 15.2cm., 6in. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 GBP. Lot sold 390,100 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

of shallow circular shape, the flaring sides supported on a short splayed footring, the centre finely decorated in repoussé and parcel-gilt with the figure of a stylised rhinoceros, standing four-square, his head with a pointed smout facing left, issuing a long and a short horn and ears laid back, his stout figure with a scaly hide, supporting a lotus howdah carrying three large flowers, the figure enclosed by a raised and gilt ring, the rim similarly set with two raised and gilt lines, the back undecorated. WEIGHT 317g.

Note: Depictions of a rhinoceros are extremely rare in the Tang dynasty, and in Chinese art in general, although the two-horned rhinoceros species depicted on this dish is recorded to have survived into the Tang dynasty in the Lingnan region of Guangdong and Guangxi, one of the main centres for Tang silver production. Compare a small parcel-gilt silver box from the Hejiacun hoard and now preserved in the Shaanxi History Museum, Xi'an, also decorated with a small rhinoceros, published in Zhongguo jin yin boli falangqi quanji, vol. 2, Shijiazhuang, 2000, pl. 32. 

A silver bowl decorated in repoussé with a rhinoceros was included in the exhibition Imperial Gold from Ancient China, Part II, Oriental Bronzes Ltd, London, 1991, cat. no. 6. In the exhibition catalogue it is mentioned, ibid., p. 22, that the ' anatomical portrayal of the animal is incorrect but it is characteristic of its Chinese interpretation. According to the official text recording the history of the Tang dynasty, rhinoceroses were sent to the Tang court by the South East Asians as tribute and gifts'. 

A fragmentary quatrefoil oval silver gilt bowl with a reclining rhinoceros in the centre was also recovered from the Belitung wreck that sank off Indonesia in the early 9th century, probably on its way to Iran (as yet unpublished). 

Another silver box with the motif of a single seated rhinoceros, in the Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum, Kobe,was included in Sekai bijutsu taizenshu: Toyo hen, vol. 4, Tokyo, 1997, pl. 166. 

For related examples of vessels decorated with animals in gilt repoussé on a plain silver ground, see a dish with a single mythical beast fashioned in heightened gilding, from the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Tangdai jinyin qi, Beijing, 1985, pl. 1; another dish decorated with a two-horned beast, in the Museum of Inner Mongolia, published in Zhang Jingming, Zhongguo beifang caoyuan gidai jinyin qi, Beijing, 2005, pls. 70-72; a Tang silver box of quatrefoil shape decorated with a scene depicting a lion attacking a deer, offered at Christie's London, 19th June 1991, lot 45; and a lobed box with a crouching animal motif, sold in these rooms, 10th June 1986, lot 38. Further examples of dishes of various forms with animal motifs in raised gilt are published in Zhongguo jin yin boli falangqi quanji, op.cit., pls. 46-48.

Sotheby's. London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork: Early Chinese Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008

Lot 60. A fine and very rare parcel-gilt 'rhinoceros' silver dish, Tang dynasty, 8th-9th century, 15.2cm., 6in. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 GBP. Lot sold 168,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

possibly a pair to lot 59, this dish is of similar shallow circular shape with everted sides rising from a splayed footring, the interior similarly decorated in repoussé and parcel-gilt depicting a rhinoceros standing four-square and facing right, his stout body with scaly hides and supporting a lotus howdah carrying three large flowers, all enclosed by a raised gilt ridge and set on a plain silver ground. WEIGHT 317g.

Note: Depictions of a rhinoceros are extremely rare in the Tang dynasty, and in Chinese art in general, although the two-horned rhinoceros species depicted on this dish is recorded to have survived into the Tang dynasty in the Lingnan region of Guangdong and Guangxi, one of the main centres for Tang silver production. Compare a small parcel-gilt silver box from the Hejiacun hoard and now preserved in the Shaanxi History Museum, Xi'an, also decorated with a small rhinoceros, published in Zhongguo jin yin boli falangqi quanji, vol. 2, Shijiazhuang, 2000, pl. 32. 

A silver bowl decorated in repoussé with a rhinoceros was included in the exhibition Imperial Gold from Ancient China, Part II, Oriental Bronzes Ltd, London, 1991, cat. no. 6. In the exhibition catalogue it is mentioned, ibid., p. 22, that the ' anatomical portrayal of the animal is incorrect but it is characteristic of its Chinese interpretation. According to the official text recording the history of the Tang dynasty, rhinoceroses were sent to the Tang court by the South East Asians as tribute and gifts'. 

A fragmentary quatrefoil oval silver gilt bowl with a reclining rhinoceros in the centre was also recovered from the Belitung wreck that sank off Indonesia in the early 9th century, probably on its way to Iran (as yet unpublished). 

Another silver box with the motif of a single seated rhinoceros, in the Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum, Kobe,was included in Sekai bijutsu taizenshu: Toyo hen, vol. 4, Tokyo, 1997, pl. 166. 

For related examples of vessels decorated with animals in gilt repoussé on a plain silver ground, see a dish with a single mythical beast fashioned in heightened gilding, from the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Tangdai jinyin qi, Beijing, 1985, pl. 1; another dish decorated with a two-horned beast, in the Museum of Inner Mongolia, published in Zhang Jingming, Zhongguo beifang caoyuan gidai jinyin qi, Beijing, 2005, pls. 70-72; a Tang silver box of quatrefoil shape decorated with a scene depicting a lion attacking a deer, offered at Christie's London, 19th June 1991, lot 45; and a lobed box with a crouching animal motif, sold in these rooms, 10th June 1986, lot 38. Further examples of dishes of various forms with animal motifs in raised gilt are published in Zhongguo jin yin boli falangqi quanji, op.cit., pls. 46-48.

Sotheby's. London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork: Early Chinese Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008

Lidded container with birds and floral scrolls, China, Shaanxi province, probably Xi’an, mid-Tang dynasty, early 8th century. Cast, hammered, and turned silver with chased and ring-punched decoration and mercury gilding. Purchase, Freer Gallery of Art, F1931.17a-b © 2017 Smithsonian Institution

This object is not gold but rather gilt silver. The entire surface of the finished piece was heavily gilded after the decoration was chased into it, filling the recessed lines with gold and making it look as if it was fabricated from that more costly material.

Lot 258. A fine and rare 'Ding' lobed bowl, Northern Song dynasty, 20cm., 7 7/8 in. Estimate 200,000 — 300,000 GBP. Lot sold 636,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

the six gently curved lobes rising from a short tapering foot to an indented everted rim, finely and freely carved and combed to the interior with a medallion enclosing a leafy lotus spray, encircled in each lobe with alternating leafy lotus sprays and swimming ducks all among waves, covered overall with a clear ivory glaze pooling in characteristic tear-drops down the exterior, the rim copper bound.

Provenance: Yamanaka & Co., London (paper label to the base).

Exhibited: Chinese Gold, Silver and Porcelain. The Kempe Collection, Asia House Gallery, New York, 1971, cat. no. 110, an exhibition touring the United States and shown also at nine other museums.

Literature: 'Hsing-Yao and Ting-Yao', The Bulletin of Far Eastern Antiquities, no. 25, 1953, Stockholm, 1953, pls. 84, 85, fig. 73.

Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl. 456.

Jan Wirgin, Sung Ceramic Designs, Stockholm, 1970, pl. 64a, fig. 8e.

The World's Great Collections. Oriental Ceramics, vol. 8, Tokyo, 1982, pl. 108.

Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 2002, pl. 658.

Note: The present bowl represents the superb stylistic achievements of the 'Ding' potter and the carving is done in an exceptionally crisp and deep manner, which accentuates the flowing lines of the decoration. 'Ding' wares are ranked among the 'five great wares of the Song', a term used by collectors of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, and the Dingzhou kilns have been identified at Quyang in Ding county, Hebei province. Celebrated for their thin potting, fine white body, which does not require a slip to appear white after firing, and an ivory-coloured glaze which tends to run down in somewhat darker 'tears', 'Ding' wares became renowned for their elegant forms that often derived from contemporaneous silver and lacquer vessels. It was no wonder that they found favour with the court and wealthy monasteries during the Song and Jin periods.

Another characteristic of 'Ding' ware is the use of metal to bind the rim. This was done in part to conceal the unglazed rim as wares were stacked upside-down in their saggers or firing containers and the mouth rim wiped free of glaze to prevent it from attaching to the kiln furniture. The contrasting colour of the distinctive bronze, copper, and sometimes precious metal rims, also enhanced the aesthetic beauty of the wares while setting the 'Ding' ware apart from the ordinary. 

Ducks, symbolic of a happy marriage, and the lotus, one of the Buddhist Eight Auspicious Symbols, were popular decorative motifs with Song dynasty decorators and often featured on ceramics. However it is unusual to find a bowl with alternating ducks and lotus blooms incised into the moulded panels of the wall. Only one other identical bowl from the Qing Court collection in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is known, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelain of the Song Dynasty I, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 61.

Lot 309. A fine and rare 'Ge' flower-shaped bowl, Southern Song dynasty, 7.6cm., 3in. Estimate 200,000 — 300,000 GBP. Lot sold 222,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 238. A rare 'Ding' tripod incense burner, Northern Song dynasty, 13cm., 5 1/8 in. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 GBP. Lot sold 210,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 253. A 'Ding' deep 'Lotus' bowl, Northern Song dynasty, 17cm., 6 3/4 in. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 GBP. Lot sold 192,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 279. A fine 'Ding' moulded 'Peacock' dish, Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234). Estimate 7,000 — 9,000 GBP. Lot sold 174,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 320. A 'Guan' foliated brushwasher, Song-Yuan dynasty, 12cm., 5 3/4 in. Estimate 60,000 — 80,000 GBP. Lot sold 288,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 274. An extremely rare 'Ding' lamp, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234), 16cm., 6 1/4 in. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 GBP. Lot sold 120,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 265. A 'Ding' moulded dish, Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234), 17cm., 6 3/4 in. Estimate 4,000 — 6,000 GBP. Lot sold 114,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 255. A 'Ding''Ducks and Water Plants' dish, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), 21.4cm., 8 3/8 in. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 GBP. Lot sold 102,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

the flaring sides rising from an angled base and shortstraight foot to an everted rim, freely carved and combed to the interior with a pair of ducks amidst arrow-head and other water plants, covered overall in a clear ivory glaze pooling in characteristic tear-drops down the exterior, the rim copper bound.

Provenance: Collection of Howard Back, no.4 (paper label to the base).

Lot 297. A large and rare 'Ding' deep 'Fish' bowl, Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234), 28cm., 11in. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 GBP. Lot sold 84,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

the deep rounded sides rising from a short tapering foot, freely carved and combed to the interior with a large carp swimming amidst water weeds, covered overall in a clear ivory glaze pooling in characteristic tear-drops down the exterior.

Literature: 'Hsing-Yao and Ting-Yao', The Bulletin of Far Eastern Antiquities, no. 25, 1953, Stockholm, 1953, pls. 70, 71, fig. 63.

Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl. 416.

Jan Wirgin, Sung Ceramic Designs, Stockholm, 1970, pls.67a, 67b, fig. 8g.

The World's Great Collections. Oriental Ceramics, vol. 8, Tokyo, 1982, pl. 115.

Sotheby's. London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork: Early Chinese Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008

Lot 267. An extremely rare 'Ding' bottle vase, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234), 29.7cm., 11 3/4 in. Estimate 6,000 — 8,000 GBP. Lot sold 72,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

the finely potted and elegant pear-shaped body rising from a short straight neatly-cut foot to a tall slender cylindrical neck with slightly flaring rim, incised just below the rim with two lines and covered overall with a clear ivory glaze, the unglazed footring revealing the fine white body.

Provenance: Yamanaka & Co.Ltd., London (paper label to the base).

Literature: Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl. 359.

Thomas Dexel,  Fruhe Keramik in China, Braunschweig, 1973, pl. 70b.

Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 2002, pl. 562.

Note: Vases of this type are extremely rare and epitomise the level of skilful porcelain production attained during the Song period by non-official kilns. The elegant bottle form, with pear-shaped body and expertly formed tall slender neck, was popular with several northern kilns at this period and is known from the 'Ding', 'Jun' and 'Yaozhou' manufactories.

A similar white-glazed bottle with two pairs of horizontal incised lines on the neck was offered in these rooms, 17th November 1999, lot 727. A 'Ding' bottle with slightly everted rim in the Idemitsu Museum of Art, Tokyo, and published in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, col. pl. 84, was sold in these rooms, 6th July 1971, lot 64, and again at Christie's Tokyo, 17th February 1980, lot 741.

Compare also a pear-shaped bottle with flared rim included in the exhibition Song Ceramics from the Kwan Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1994, cat. no. 35, which appears to be of similar type and is attributed to the Jiexiu kilns of Shanxi province. 

Sotheby's. London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork: Early Chinese Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008

Lot 3222. A Ding bottle vase, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234), 11 3/4 in. (29.7 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 800,000 - HKD 1,200,000. Price realised HKD 1,000,000 © Christie's Images Ltd 2014

The vase is well potted with a pear-shaped body resting on a short straight foot and rising to a tall slender cylindrical neck gently tapering towards the mouth rim. It is covered overall with a clear ivory-white glaze of even tone.

Provenance: Yamanaka & Co. Ltd. (according to label on the base)
Carl Kempe Collection
Sold at Sotheby's London, 14 May 2008, lot 267

Literature: Bo Gyllensvard, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl. 359.
Thomas Dexel, Fruhe Keramik in China, Braunschweig, 1973, pl. 70b
Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 2002, pl. 562

Note: The current bottle form, characterised by a well rounded pear-shaped body and a sensuous slender neck, was popular with a number of Northern kilns of this period, including Ding, Jun and Yaozhou.

Compare to a similar Ding bottle vase of comparable height (29.8 cm.) with an everted mouth rim, sold at Sotheby's London, 6 July 1971, lot 64, and again at Christie's Tokyo, 17 February 1980, lot 741, and illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, no. 84 (fig. 1). 

fig. 1. A Ding bottle vase, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234). Sold at Christie's Tokyo, 17 February 1980, lot 741. © Christie's Images Ltd 2014