id: 154257 accession number: 1988.67.2 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1988.67.2 updated: 2021-09-23 09:00:19.598000 Beaker, c. 700. Central Asia or Tibet, early 8th century. Silver with gilding; diameter: 10.2 cm (4 in.); overall: 10.2 cm (4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 1988.67.2 title: Beaker title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 700 creation date earliest: 695 creation date latest: 705 current location: creditline: The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund copyright: --- culture: Central Asia or Tibet, early 8th century technique: silver with gilding department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art collection: Tibetan Art type: Silver find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Diameter: 10.2 cm (4 in.); Overall: 10.2 cm (4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Inscribed on bottom of beaker: "Phan:shing:gong:skyes:gyi:sug:byad (or Byang)" [personal possessions of the high-born Chinese Princess] translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Faith and Empire: Art and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism opening date: 2019-02-01T05:00:00 Faith and Empire: Art and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism. Rubin Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (February 1-July 15, 2019). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * CMA, 1989: "Year in Review 1988," CMA Bulletin 76 (February, 1989), cat. no. 231, p. 209, reproduced p. 51.
CMA, 1991: "Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum"
CMA, 1993: "Selections from the Tibetan Collection," galleries 103-4, no catalogue. --- PROVENANCE (David Tremayne, Ltd., London, United Kingdom, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: ?–1988 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1988– footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: This vessel attests to the international climate that pervaded the regions of China, Tibet, and Central Asia during the time of the expansionist Tang dynasty (618-907). It is ornamented predominantly with Central Asian elements, including grape vines, beaded borders, and heart-shaped motifs. Sogdian craftsmen are known to have specialized in the technique of offsetting the silver repoussé design with gilded foil. The form of the animal-headed rhyton as a drinking vessel and the use of silver derive from Persian sources, while the lush, luxurious quality of the design and the form of the lions and curling dragon on one side of the vase reveal an awareness of Chinese forms.

An ownership inscription in Tibetan script on the underside of the cup identifies the vessel as a personal possession of a Chinese queen. Whether a later addition or not, the inscription attests to the importance of marital alliances between the ruling elite in Tibet and neighboring regions during the early decades of the political consolidation and unification of Tibet. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Czuma, Stan. "Tibetan Silver Vessels." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 4 (1993): 131-35. page number: Reproduced: p. 131-32; Mentioned: p. 131-35 url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25161400 Kosmin, Paul. "Banqueting on the Move." In Animal-Shaped Vessels from the Ancient World: Feasting with Gods, Heroes, and Kings.Susanne Ebbinghaus,ed., 310-341. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Art Museums, 2018. page number: Reproduced: p. 340 url: Debreczeny, Karl. Faith and Empire: Art and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism. New York, NY: Rubin Museum of Art, 2019. page number: Reproduced: fig. 3.5, p. 76 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1988.67.2/1988.67.2_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1988.67.2/1988.67.2_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1988.67.2/1988.67.2_full.tif