Tibetan Silver Tea Cup

Engraved Silver Tea Cup

This small but elegant tea cup of hammered silver is finely engraved with quasi-Taoist Tibetan symbols amid scrolling clouds against a tooled background. A wide, lower border comprises broad lotus petals. The upper border features lunettes engraved with various fruits and plants including finger citrons and pomegranates.

The cup stands on a relatively high ring foot, and tapers outwards to an everted rim. The manner of construction suggests an earlier rather than a later dating.

from a US-based private collection.