A CHINESE PARCEL-GILT SILVER 'MANDARIN DUCK' BOX AND COVER
唐 銀局部鎏金鴛鴦蓋盒

A CHINESE PARCEL-GILT SILVER 'MANDARIN DUCK' BOX AND COVER

Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 C.E)

唐 銀局部鎏金鴛鴦蓋盒

The slightly-convex box decorated to the cover with a pair of Mandarin ducks amongst foliate sprays, swirling clouds and flying birds, the sides with rows of cloud sprays, the underside decorated with a central five-petal flowerhead enclosed by two bands of flowering blossoms, with faint traces of gilt present, all on a ring-punched ground,

6.4cm diameter, weight approx. 95g

(2)

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NOTE:

The depiction of pairs of Mandarin ducks in Chinese art has connotations of a wish for harmonious marriage, and were a popular motif on wedding gifts.

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REFERENCE:

A related box and cover, dated to the Tang Dynasty and decorated with a pair of Mandarin ducks with intertwined necks, was sold at Christie's London, 10 May 2011, lot 179. A silver box and cover, from the collection of Dr. Johan Carl Kempe, with the same attributed date but instead decorated with a pair of opposing ducks, was sold at Christie's New York, 12th September 2019, lot 544.

A related example of smaller size, and decorated with ducks standing side-by-side on a lotus leaf, is illustrated in 'World of the Heavenly Khan: Treasures of the Tang Dynasty', National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2002, p.56. A pair of confronting ducks standing on a lotus decorates the top of a parcel-gilt silver box excavated in 1970 from Prince Bin's treasure hoard at Hejiacun, Shaanxi province, and is illustrated by Han Wei and Christian Deydier in 'Ancient Chinese Gold', Paris, 2001, p. 229, pls. 546-547.