A engraved flower-shaped gold bowl, Qing dynasty, 18th Century.
Engraved decoration of small landscapes with figures, animals and buildings. The base with to Monograms; BC under a English Baronial Crown, the other reads MG. Weight 86 gram. 18 Karat. Diameter 8 cm.
Tiny repair.
Provenance
Property of a Swedish Art Collector. A copy of a written statement regarding an earlier dating of the bowl to the Ming dynasty, by former Director of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockhom, Professor Bo Gyllensvärd, dated 1984 is accompanying the piece.
More information
The cup is made of two identical parts; one layer for the exterior and another one for the interior, which are soldered at the lip. This technique was much used during the Tang dynasty, but also common during Yuan and Ming. The complicated technique was used because of the exterior decoration being chased and thus the pattern was repeated in repoussé on the reverse. To hide this relief pattern it had to be covered by another, plain inner layer of gold.