Description
This gold bowl is stored in a round wooden case covered with leather and decorated in painted gold. On the white silk inner lining of the lid of the case, the provenance of the bowl is written in the four languages of Han Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian, and Tibetan, stating, “On the 17th day of the 12th month in the 49th year of the Qianlong reign (1784), Hami (Kumul) Zhasake Erdashir, Prince of the Second Rank and Beile, offered a gold bowl in tribute.” According to historical records, Erdashir, the sixth Hami (Kumul) Zhasake and Prince of the Second Rank, in gratitude for the imperial order by the Qianlong Emperor granting permanent succession to his titles for his family, proceeded to send this gold bowl in tribute. This gold bowl from Xinjiang made use of cloisonné filigree techniques to decorate the mouth rim and ring foot with flower and leaf patterns, while the belly of the bowl was inlaid with pomegranate patterns surrounded by cloisonné filigree flower and leaf patterns. The highly characteristic of granulation technique was then used to cover the background of the exterior surface with tiny gold beads, creating an effect similar to inlaid roe patterns, but with a unique texture and sense of exoticness. On the inner side of the ring foot, the characters, “Qian Long Yu Yong (For the Imperial Use of the Qianlong Emperor),” in standard script are engraved in intaglio. This vessel was intended for the personal use of the Qianlong Emperor.