Silver Vessels

Description

These vessels attest to the international climate that pervaded the regions of China, Tibet, and Central Asia during the time of the expansionist Tang dynasty (618–907). They are ornamented predominantly with Central Asian elements, including grape vines, beaded borders, heart-shaped motifs, and real and fantastic creatures. Stylistically, the Tibetan objects resemble the metalwork of Sogdian craftspeople, who came from the regions of modern-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and settled across Asia. These artists are known to have specialized in the technique of offsetting the silver repoussé design with gilded foil, using heat and pressure to adhere the foil to the silver surface of the vessel.

Provenance

(David Tremayne, Ltd., London, United Kingdom, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?–1988); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1988–)

Silver Vessels

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c. late 600s–early 700s

Accession Number

1988.67

Medium

Silver with gilded foil

Dimensions

Overall: 22.9 cm (9 in.)

Classification

Silver

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund