small silver dish with raised gold colored decoration of grazing deer, mountains, and bent tree with a monkey; gold band separating scene from wall; lip is decorated with zigzag and spot incised lines

Dish, 1127-1279

Unknown artist, expand_more
Not on Viewexpand_more

The Chinese began to use silver as a decorative element in the Spring and Autumn period (770 BCE–476 BCE), and until the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) the metal was used extensively to create jewelry, luxury implements, and religious vessels.

This dish is intricately decorated with a landscape scene of animals on the shores of a lake. The dish shows the advanced metalworking technique of craftspeople in the Southern Song dynasty. The animals and trees are rendered in repoussé (relief created by hammering the reverse of the object) and chasing, and then gilded with gold leaf.

Details
Title
Dish
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2017.33
Curator Approved

This record is from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator, so may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.

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small silver dish with raised gold colored decoration of grazing deer, mountains, and bent tree with a monkey; gold band separating scene from wall; lip is decorated with zigzag and spot incised lines