Engraved White-Metal Self-Heating Tea or Wine Vessel with Pierced Pedestal

Object/Artifact

-

The Curio Cabinet Collection

Name/Title

Engraved White-Metal Self-Heating Tea or Wine Vessel with Pierced Pedestal

Entry/Object ID

ML0127

Description

Chinese white-metal self-heating tea or wine vessel with rounded body, angular spout, shaped side handle, and an elaborately pierced pedestal concealing a heating assembly. Engraved landscape panels depict robed figures, mountainous scenery, trees, and a bovine animal, recalling traditional Chinese pastoral and scholar imagery. An inscription reproduces the concluding couplet of Li Shangyin's Tang poem Liang Si, expressing separation, longing, and uncertainty. The combination of classical poetry, pictorial metal engraving, and ingenious heating construction gives this utilitarian vessel particular decorative and cultural interest.

Category

Chinese Metal Art

Made/Created

Artist

Maker presently unidentified

Time Period

20th Century

Ethnography

Cultural Region

Continent

Asia

Culture/Tribe

Chinese

Inscription/Signature/Marks

天涯占夢數 疑誤有新知 Traditional Chinese characters · two five-character lines These are the final two lines of 涼思 (Liang Si), Thoughts of Coolness or Melancholy Thoughts, by Li Shangyin (李商隱, c. 813–858). The Chinese Text Project and Wikisource editions of his poetry support this identification. Chinese Pinyin Meaning 天涯 tiān yá At the ends of the earth; far away 占夢 zhān mèng To interpret or divine dreams 數 shuò Repeatedly, frequently 疑 yí To suspect or doubt 誤 wù To misunderstand or mistakenly believe 有 yǒu To have 新知 xīn zhī A new acquaintance or friend English translation: Far away, I repeatedly seek meaning in my dreams; I fear you may have found a new friend and forgotten me. The final lines convey emotional distance, longing for an absent companion, and uncertainty about the friendship's future.

Dimensions

Height

6-3/8 in

Width

6-1/8 in

Depth

4-3/4 in

Weight

986 g

Materials

Material Notes

White metal, possibly pewter, paktong, or another copper- or tin-based alloy; exact composition unverified

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Acquisition

Acquisition Method

Purchase