A PAIR OF FOLIATE-SHAPED SILVER DISHES NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY, 10TH CENTURY

elegantly worked in the shape of a six-petalled flower with a flat base and straight sides, the rim with six notches marking the petals, the interior and exterior undecorated and with some malachite encrustation

Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1954-55, cat. no. 170.

Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, pl. 170.

Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 163.

Both dishes are in overall very good condition. Both dishes show areas of malachite green encrustations both the interior sides and exterior sides and base. The surface on both dishes shows very light overall wear. The metal on the base of one dish shows small circular areas of corrugation in the centre and some assocated areas.
"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."

Six-lobed stoneware bowls of very similar form from the Ding and Yaozhou kilns were among the donations recovered from the 'underground palace' (digong) of the early Song dynasty Jingzhi Temple pagoda at Dingzhou, Hebei province, which was built in AD 977; see the exhibition catalogue Treasures from the Underground Palaces. Excavated Treasures from Northern Song Pagodas, Dingzhou, Hebei Province, China, Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, 1997, nos. 71 and 79, the former inscribed with the date of its donation, equivalent to AD 977. This repository contained also a plain silver bowl without lobes, ibid., pl. 13. The six-lobed shape represented an innovation of the 10^th century. Related green-glazed bowls enshrined in the 'underground palace' of the Famen Temple at Fufeng, Shaanxi province, for example, which was sealed a century earlier, are still of the five-lobed variety.