id: 154258
accession number: 1988.67.3
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1988.67.3
updated: 2023-09-15 11:23:05.808000
Rhyton, c. 700. Central Asia or Tibet, early 8th century. Silver with gilding; overall: 30.5 cm (12 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Clara Taplin Rankin 1988.67.3
title: Rhyton
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: c. 700
creation date earliest: 695
creation date latest: 705
current location:
creditline: Gift of Mrs. Clara Taplin Rankin
copyright:
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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:
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CREATORS
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measurements: Overall: 30.5 cm (12 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: The Year in Review for 1988
opening date: 1989-03-01T05:00:00
The Year in Review for 1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 1-May 14, 1989).
title: Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum
opening date: 1991-06-07T04:00:00
Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).
title: Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World
opening date: 2009-11-11T00:00:00
Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World. American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY (organizer) (November 11, 2009-August 15, 2010).
title: Animal-Shaped Vessels from the Ancient World: Feasting with Gods, Heroes, and Kings
opening date: 2018-09-07T04:00:00
Animal-Shaped Vessels from the Ancient World: Feasting with Gods, Heroes, and Kings. Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA (organizer) (September 7, 2018-January 6, 2019).
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).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* Selections from the Tibetan Collection (Galleries 103–104). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1993).
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PROVENANCE
(David Tremayne, Ltd., London, United Kingdom, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, as gift from Mrs. Clara Taplin Rankin)
date: ?–1988
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1988–
footnotes:
citations:
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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.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
“The Year in Review for 1988.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 76, no. 2 (February 1989): 30–75.
page number: Mentioned: cat. no. 232, pp. 37, 75; Reproduced: cat. no. 232, p. 41
url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25160061
Czuma, Stan. "Tibetan Silver Vessels." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 4 (1993): 131-35.
page number: Reproduced: p. 133; Mentioned: p. 131-35
url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25161400
Carter, Martha L. "Three Silver Vessels from Tibet's Earliest Historical Era: A Preliminary Study." Cleveland Studies in the History of Art 3 (1998) 22-47.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 22, 27–31, figs. 1, 5a-9c
url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20079697
Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 216
url:
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: Mentioned: p. 338 364; Reproduced: p. 339, fig. 7.30; p, 364, cat, #62
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, pp. 8-9 and p. 76
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1988.67.3/1988.67.3_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1988.67.3/1988.67.3_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1988.67.3/1988.67.3_full.tif