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    • Parcel-gilt Silver Box and Cover
    • Parcel-gilt Silver Box and Cover
    • Parcel-gilt Silver Box and Cover
    Parcel-gilt Silver Box and Cover

    Tang: ceramics, metalwork and sculpture

    21 October - 6 November, 2021

    Eskenazi Limited is delighted to hold an exhibition entirely devoted to rare works of art including ceramics, sculpture and metalwork from the Tang Dynasty (618 to 907 AD), often called the golden age of Chinese culture. This is only the second time that Eskenazi has held an exhibition covering a wide range of material, solely dedicated to the Tang Dynasty. The first was in 1987. Notable highlights of this 2021 exhibition include a magnificent and monumental dry lacquer head of a bodhisattva, one of only three known surviving examples of this kind and a rare sancai-glazed zodiac animal figure with a human body and an equine head

    Parcel-gilt Silver Box and Cover

    Tang dynasty, 7th - 8th century

    This very rare parcel-gilt silver box has eight lobes around the sides copying the shape of a melon and each lobe is decorated with grape scrolls and small birds. Seated at the top of this, acting as the knop of the cover, is a small squirrel proffering a bunch of grapes. Grapes had already been introduced to China during the earlier Han dynasty, but it was only during the Tang period when there was expansion of the empire westwards that grapes and grape wine became well known. The fruit became a popular decorative motif, used on mirrors and other metalwork.

    In the decorative arts of the later dynasties, grapes and squirrels became a popular motif associated with the wish for many children, and many generations, as both are known for their ability to multiply.

    Height: 8.0cm