Posted 2016/11/28
The gilded silver leather bag-shaped pot with dancing horse patterns unearthed from the Tang Dynasty vault in Xi'an of Shaanxi Province in 1970 is a classic piece of the gold and silver ware in the Tang Dynasty. The pot is 18.5 centimeters in height and shaped like a leather bag, with a gilded handle on the top. There's a small upright mouth in front of the handle and the gilded lid is shaped like upside-down lotus petals, with a thin chain tied to the back of the handle.
There's a gilded gallant horse on each side of the pot body. The forelegs of the horses are straight and the hind legs are crooked, with a wine cup in the mouth, as if trippingly dancing. Thanks to the malleable prominence imaging technology, the pot is exceptionally gorgeous, as the horse images are raised above the pot surface, giving a strong relief effect. The pot is now kept in Shaanxi Provincial Museum.
The silver pot with dancing horse patterns is ingeniously designed, gracefully shaped and exquisitely made, giving magnificent beauty. In addition, the pot combines multiple techniques such as malleable prominence imaging and gilding etc, reflecting the great achievements in the making techniques of gold and silver ware in the Tang Dynasty.
