altar-vessel BM-1990-0705.1.a-b

Period:Unknown Production date:1736-1795
Materials:silver
Technique:enamelled, champlevé,
Subjects:religious object symbol
Dimensions:Diameter: 15.60 centimetres (mouth) Diameter: 15.90 centimetres Height: 28.80 centimetres Height: 29.40 centimetres

Description:
Pair of silver altar vessels in the shape of ancient bronze ‘gu’, decorated in ‘champleve’ blue enamel with the Eight Buddhist symbols. Qianlong mark and period (1736-1795).
IMG


Comments:Rawson 1992:Qing dynasty (1644-1911) silver made for use in China is now very rare, apart from pieces in the two palace museum collections in Beijing and Taipei. Images and ritual implements employed forms better known in bronze and were often embellished with openwork, precious stones and enamels. Much silver in Western shapes, made to comply with Western tastes, was exported to Europe and the United States during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.