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Source Description
These vessels attest to the international climate that pervaded the regions of China, Tibet, and Central Asia during the time of the expansionist Tang dynasty (618–907). They are ornamented predominantly with Central Asian elements, including grape vines, beaded borders, heart-shaped motifs, and real and fantastic creatures. Stylistically, the Tibetan objects resemble the metalwork of Sogdian craftspeople, who came from the regions of modern-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and settled across Asia. These artists are known to have specialized in the technique of offsetting the silver repoussé design with gilded foil, using heat and pressure to adhere the foil to the silver surface of the vessel.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
154255
label
Silver Vessels
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
154255
contentType
object
title
Silver Vessels
description
These vessels attest to the international climate that pervaded the regions of China, Tibet, and Central Asia during the time of the expansionist Tang dynasty (618–907). They are ornamented predominantly with Central Asian elements, including grape vines, beaded borders, heart-shaped motifs, and real and fantastic creatures. Stylistically, the Tibetan objects resemble the metalwork of Sogdian craftspeople, who came from the regions of modern-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and settled across Asia. These artists are known to have specialized in the technique of offsetting the silver repoussé design with gilded foil, using heat and pressure to adhere the foil to the silver surface of the vessel.
date
c. late 600s–early 700s
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79941061
genreSpecific
Silver
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Part 1: 22.9 cm (9 in.); Part 2: 10.2 x 10.2 cm (4 x 4 in.); Part 3: 500 g (1.1 lbs.)
cul
Central Asia (Sogdiana) or Tibet
accession
1988.67
Source extras
tec
Silver with gilded foil
tombstone
Silver Vessels, c. late 600s–early 700s. Central Asia (Sogdiana) or Tibet. Silver with gilded foil; part 1: 22.9 cm (9 in.); part 2: 10.2 x 10.2 cm (4 x 4 in.); part 3: 500 g (1.1 lbs.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1988.67
collection
Tibetan Art
inscriptions
inscription
Inscribed on bottom of Cup (1988.67.2): phan shing gong skyes gui sug byad [or byang]
inscription_translation
"personal possessions of the high-born princess"
inscription_remark
The incised inscription on the bottom of the Cup 1988.67.2 is in an archaic form of Tibetan.
sortorder
1
didYouKnow
These banquet items may have been made specifically to be buried alongside a deceased person for use in the afterlife.
citations
citation
“The Year in Review for 1988.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 76, no. 2 (February 1989): 30–75.
page_number
Mentioned: cat. no. 231–233, p. 75; Reproduced: cat. no. 231–233, p. 51
citation
Czuma, Stan. "Museum Acquisitions and Notes." <em>Bulletin of the Asia Institute</em> vol. 5 (1991), 190.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 190
citation
“Recent Acquisitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art II: Departments of Asian Art: Supplement.” <em>The Burlington Magazine</em> 133, no. 1059 (June 1991): 417–424.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 419, fig. VIII
citation
Czuma, Stanislaw J. "Some Tibetan and Tibet-Related Acquisitions of the Cleveland Museum of Art." <em>Oriental Art</em>, winter 1992/3, vol. 38, no. 4.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 231; Reproduced: p. 232.
citation
Czuma, Stan. "Tibetan Silver Vessels." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 80, no. 4 (April 1993): 131–135.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 134; Mentioned: pp. 131–135
citation
Carter, Martha L. "Three Silver Vessels from Tibet's Earliest Historical Era: A Preliminary Study." <em>Cleveland Studies in the History of Art </em>3 (1998) 22-47.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 22-31, figs. 1-9c
citation
Heller, Amy. <em>Tibetan Art: Tracing the Development of Spiritual Ideals and Art in Tibet, 600-2000 A.D</em>. Milano, Italy; Woodbridge, England: Jaca Book; Antique Collectors’ Club, 1999.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 8 and 11, pls. 3, 4, 13, and 14.
citation
Christman, Bruce. "Three Gilded Tibetan Vessels." In <em>Gilded Metals: History, Technology and Conservation</em>. Terry Drayman-Weisser, ed. London: Archetype Publications Ltd. in association with the American Institute of Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, 2000.
page_number
Reproduced: fig. 10.1, p. 169; fig. 10.3, p. 172
citation
Heller, Amy. "The Silver Jug of the Lhasa Jokhang: Some observations on silver objects and costumes from the Tibetan Empire (7th-9th century)." <em>Asianart.com</em>, published July 18, 2002.
page_number
Reproduced: fig. 33 and fig. 34 (cup only)
citation
"Silk Road Art and Archaeology." <em>Silk Road art and archaeology: journal of the Institute of Silk Road Studies, Kamakura</em>, vol. 9 (2003).
page_number
Reproduced: fig. 17, p. 224
citation
Huo, Wei. “A Study of Ancient Tibetan Gold and Silver Ware.” <em>Chinese Archaeology</em> 12, no. 1 (November 2012): 165–74. doi:10.1515/char-2012-0020.
citation
Heller, Amy. “Tibetan Inscriptions on Ancient silver and gold Vessels and Artefacts.” <em>Journal of the International Association for Bon Research</em>, vol 1. (2013). Mentioned: footnote 38, p. 274; pp. 276–8. Reproduced: p. 277.
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 216
citation
Kosmin, Paul. "Banqueting on the Move." In <em>Animal-Shaped Vessels from the Ancient World: Feasting with Gods, Heroes, and Kings</em>. Susanne Ebbinghaus, ed., 310-341. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Art Museums, 2018.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 338, p. 384, cat. no. 62
citation
Debreczeny, Karl. <em>Faith and Empire: Art and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism</em>. New York, NY: Rubin Museum of Art, 2019.
page_number
Reproduced: fig. 3.5, pp. 8-9 and p. 76
citation
Pritzker, David Thomas and Wang Xudong 王旭东, editors. <em>Cultural Exchange along the Silk Road: Masterpieces of the Tubo Period (7th-9th Century) </em>= 丝绸之路上的文化交流 : 吐蕃时期艺术珍品. Beijing: 中国藏学出版社 [China Tibetology Publishing House], 2020.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 15, p. 31 (vase only)
citation
Heller, Amy. “Silver Jug: Ceremonial Banquet Vessels in Silver and Gold,” <em>Project Himalayan Art</em>, Rubin Museum of Art, 2023, https://rubinmuseum.org/projecthimalayanart/essays/silver-jug/.
citation
Heller, Amy. “Silver Jug: Ceremonial Banquet Vessels in Silver and Gold.” <em>Project Himalayan Art, </em>Rubin Museum of Art, 2023.
page_number
Reproduced: fig. 5 and fig. 6 (cup only)
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
sketchfabId
a1beb487438647c180e52e18a4bb32dc
updatedAt
2026-06-18 21:16:49.687000
sourceId
154255
dept
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
coll
Tibetan Art
med
Silver with gilded foil
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
1891663a711a0242