Lot 413. A fine gilt-bronze petal-shaped stemcup, Tang dynasty (618-907); 6cm., 2 3/8 in. Estimate 6,000 — 8,000 GBP. Lot Sold 6,000 GBP. Photo courtesy Sotheby's 2008
the deep rounded bowl repouse-decorated with two rows of eight petals below the everted rim, each petal of the upper row finely chased with birds and floral strapwork divided by further floral strapwork in the spandrels, the lower row with floral strapwork, all supported on a high spreading knopped foot similarly decorated.
Literature: Chinese Ceramic Treasures. A Selection from the Ulricehamn East Asian Museum, Including the Carl Kempe Collection, Ulricehamn, 2002, pl. 1116.
Note: See a closely related stemcup, formerly in the collection of Sen. Hugh Scott and now in the Museum Rietberg, Zurich, illustrated in Pierre Uldry, Chinesisches Gold und Silber. Die Sammlung Pierre Uldry, Zurich, 1994, pl. 135; and another included in The International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935, cat. no. 766, sold in our New York rooms, 4th June 1985, lot 34. Compare cups of this form and similarly engraved decoration, but with a splayed chrysanthemum flower-shaped foot; such as one sold in our New York rooms, 5th May 1972, lot 444A, and again, 2nd June 1977, lot 352; a silver version, from the Carl Kempe collection, sold in these rooms 14th May 2008, lot 71; another from the collections of David-Weill and Arthur M. Sackler, sold in these rooms, 29th February 1972, lot 168; and a third silver cup in the Shaanxi History Museum, published in Zhongguo qingtong jinyin qi dingji tudian, Hong Kong, 2007, p. 268, pl. 36.
Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. 05 Nov 08. London
