165 - A RARE PARCEL-GILT SILVER INCENSE HOLDER AND COVER

A RARE PARCEL-GILT SILVER INCENSE HOLDER AND COVER China, Tang dynasty, H 13.5 cm, 264 g. The cylindrical container supported on a splayed foot decorated with gilt makara emerging from breaking waves beneath a delicate scroll band, rising to a prominent collar of inverted carved lotus petals. The body finely chased and parcel-gilded with a continuous Buddhist scene depicting guardian kings (Tianwang), accompanied by attendants and kneeling figures set against a dense scrolling foliage background on a ring-punched ground. The flared upper rim chased with a scrolling tendril border. The stepped, domed cover surmounted by a lotus-bud finial and decorated with gilt phoenixes in flight among scrolls and wave borders. Provenance: A copy of an invoice from Tanaka Bijutsu, Tokyo, 14.7.1999 is available. Cylindrical parcel-gilt silver containers of this form were used in both courtly and monastic settings during the Tang dynasty to store precious incense pellets, powders, or sacred offerings. Compare gilt silver containers of similar form with lotus-bud finials and a wave band around the foot, excavated from the underground palace of the Famen Temple (Famen si), Shaanxi province, illustrated by Han Wei and Christian Deydier in Ancient Chinese Gold, Paris, 2001, pp. 302-311, pl. 634 and 639. See also a rectangular box, excavated from Famen si, decorated with similar guardian figures, illustrated ibid. p. 259, pl. 590. * The full tax is charged on this item marked *, i.e. VAT is charged on the sum will be refunded to Purchasers providing a validly stamped export declaration.