Cup with lotus, vines, and birds

Dateearly 8th century

Label TextForeign imports significantly influenced Chinese arts during the Tang dynasty’s peaceful stability. The cosmopolitan capital of Chang’an (present-day Xi’an) was the largest city in the world. Its aristocratic and wealthy residents desired styles and customs from elsewhere, such as new clothing fashions, games like polo, and expensive banqueting vessels like this one. This Chinese vessel is modeled after earlier gilt silver and bronze wine cups from Sogdiana (present-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan).

Object number42.5

Photo CreditPhoto: Elizabeth Mann

Exhibition HistoryNew York, New York, Chinese Art Society of America, 1948. Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles County Museum, Arts of T'ang Dynasty, 1957. Louisville, Kentucky, J. B. Speed Art Museum, "Treasures of Chinese Art", 1965. Portland, Oregon, Portland Art Museum, "Gift to a City: Masterworks from the Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection in the Seattle Art Museum", cat. # 35 New York, New York, China Institute of America, "Chinese Gold and Silver", 1971-1972 Dayton, Ohio, Dayton Art Institute, Chinese Gold and Silver from the Tang Dynasty in American Collections, Nov.3, 1984-Sept. 22, 1985 (New York, NY, Cooper-Hewitt Museum, Feb. 5 - Apr. 21, 1985; Northampton, MA, George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, June 1 - July 14, 1985; and Birmingham Museum of Art) Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum "Chinese Metalwork" July 12 - November 27, 1988 (07/12/1988 - 11/27/1988) Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Timeless Grandeur: Art from China" April 25, 2002 - June 12, 2005 Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, "Chinese Art: A Seattle Perspective", December 22, 2007 - July 26, 2009 (12/22/2007 - 7/26/2009) Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.Published References"Handbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works from the Permanent Collections." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1951, p. 62 (b&w) Los Angeles County Museum, cat., "Arts of T'ang Dynasty" 1957, p.122 (346) Museum Far East, Antiquities Bull. no. 29, 1957, pl.9(b); p.63, 179, 227 Kadokawa Co., "Sui and Tang dynasties of China", History of World Art, Vol.15, no.95 (2nd section). J. B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, "Treasures of Chinese Art", cat., 1965, no.18, ill. "Gift to a City" exhibition catalogue. Portland, OR: Portland Art Museum, 1965, cat. no. 35 Wright, Prof. A.F., Chagan, "The T'ang City, in Toynbee, Dr. A., Cities of Destiny Singer, Dr. Paul, "Early Chinese Gold and Silver", the China Institute in America cat., 1971, #76, p. 56 Trubner, Henry , and William J. Rathbun, C.A. Kaputa, Asiatic Art in the Seattle Art Museum, 1973,p.156, #104 Kelley, Clarence W., Dayton Art Institute, Ohio, Chinese Gold and Silver from the Tang Dynasty in American Collections, 1984, p.62, cat.28. Toynbee, Arnold. CITIES OF DESTINY. London: Thames and Hudson. Waugh, Daniel C. "The Arts of China in Seattle." The Silk Road, vol. 12 (2014): pp. 137-152, reproduced p.144, fig. 23.

Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection

Dimensions2 1/2 in. (6.35 cm) Diam.: 3 in.

MediumHammered silver and cast handle, with ring-punch and gilt-chased decoration