A FINE GILT-BRONZE STEMCUP TANG DYNASTY

the deep U-shaped bowl rising from a knopped spreading foot to an everted rim, finely chased around the exterior with equestrian figures reserved on a ring-matted ground, all below a rib and a chased undulating floral band

The upper section of the stem below the cup has a crack around 2/3 of the diameter covered with some malachite encrustation, causing a slight tilt in the level of the cup. The gilding on the exterior surface is chipped in some areas, the largest affected 4 mm wide. The interior with heavy malachite encrustation and some chipping of the gilding. Encrustation also below the foot. In otherwise fine condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Engraved 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. 64-5, 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 Chinese adapted 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 closely related example was sold at Christie's London, 14^th July 1980, lot 298; another, but with a band of stylised clouds on the rim, in the Avery Brundage collection, is illustrated in Jan Fontein, Unearthing China's Past, Boston, 1973, pl. 93; and a third example was sold in these rooms, 12^th December 1978, lot 240. Compare also a silver-gilt stemcup of this form decorated with a hunter on one side and a camel on the other, in the Musee Guimet, Paris, illustrated in Han Wei, Ancient Chinese Gold, Paris, 2001, pl. 378.

The motif of horsemen chasing their game with drawn arrows is a motif characteristic of the sophistication and prosperity of the height of the Tang dynasty.