A VERY FINE SMALL FLOWER-SHAPED SILVER STEM CUP TANG DYNASTY, LATE 7TH/EARLY 8TH CENTURY

the small shallow bowl divided into eight petal-shaped lobes and resting on a short stem with a wide fluted petal-shaped foot, the sides delicately chased and engraved with ducks and parrots, some in flight, others alternately facing each other or with heads turned back, set in a landscape amidst rockwork and trees, all reserved on a minute ring-punched ground, the stem embellished with a band of lotus petals

Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1954-55, cat. no. 110.

Chinese Gold, Silver and Porcelain. The Kempe Collection, Asia House Gallery, New York, 1971, cat. no. 54.

Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, cat. no. 110.

Bo Gyllensvärd, 'T'ang Gold and Silver', Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, no. 29, 1957, pp.1-230, fig. 62m.

Han Wei, Hai nei wai Tangdai jin yin qi cuibian [Tang gold and silver in Chinese and overseas collections], Xi'an, 1989, pl. 59.

Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 113.

The stemcup is in overall very good condition. The surface shows very light overall wear consistent with age and the is very crisp.
"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."

Stemcups of this elegant flower-shaped form with lobed body and the stem in the form of flaring fluted petals are extremely rare, although a closely related gilded silver six lobed stemcup decorated with a hunting scene in the Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum, Kobe, is illustrated in Sekai bijutsu taizenshu: Toyo hen, vol. 4, Tokyo, 1997, pls. 168-169; another example in the British Museum, London, is published in Jessica Rawson, 'The Ornament on Chinese Silver of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-906), Occasional Paper, no.40, London, 1982, pl. 1.

See also a stemcup with a similar eight-lobed foot but with a less distinctly lobed body, from the Nelson Gallery, Atkins Museum, Kansas City, included in the China Institute of America exhibition  Early Chinese Gold and Silver, China House Gallery, New York, 1971, cat.no. 74; and another, from the Mayer collection and illustrated in Bo Gyllensvard, Tang Gold and Silver, Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, no. 29, Stockholm, 1957, pl. 8e, sold at Christie's London, 24/25^th June 1974, lot 156. A further comparable example, from  the collections of David-Weill and Arthur M. Sackler, was sold at Christie's New York, 1^st December 1994, lot 65.

Compare also a cup illustrated in Zhongguo jin yin boli falangqi quanji, vol. 2, Shijiazhuang, 2004, pl. 6, in the Shaanxi History Museum; and another included in the exhibition Chinesisches Gold und Silber. Die Sammlung Pierre Uldry, Museum Rietberg, Zurich, 1994, cat. no. 136.