17th century Each cup stand of lobed seven-sided form, decorated in the centre with a raised platform with radiating petals, finely chased around the receptacle with scholars standing within a rocky landscape, together with a cup rising from a short spreading foot to a fluted mouth set with a pair of lingzhi handles, the exterior chased with quatrefoil cartouches enclosing figures within landscapes, the interior of the cup gilt. the cup 9.5cm (3 3/4in) wide; the stand 15cm (5 7/8in) diam. (4).Footnotes十七世紀 銀鎏金靈芝耳菊瓣形杯連托 一對 Provenance: Christie's London, 13 May 2011, lot 1134 來源: 佳士得倫敦，2011年5月13日，拍品編號1134 The wine was believed to be able to inspire Chinese scholars in composing poems and articles. In one of the most famous elegant gatherings in Chinese history, the 'Lanting Gathering' of 353 CE, forty-two literati had engaged in a drinking contest: rice-wine cups were floated down a small winding creek as the men sat along its banks; whenever a cup stopped, the man closest to the cup was required to empty it and write a poem. This was known as 流觴曲水 liushang qushui (floating goblets in the winding river). In the end, twenty-six of the participants' composed thirty-seven poems, which was refaced by Wang Xizhi and known as Lanting ji xu (Prefaced to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion). Distilled wine with higher alcohol by volume had become more popular during the Ming Dynasty, accordingly wine cups had been adjusted to a smaller size during this time. Compare with a set of gilt-silver cups with similar design and size but without stands, Ming Dynasty, which are illustrated in the Zhongguo jinyin boli falangqi quanji (Complete Collection of Chinese Gold, Silver, Glass and Cloisonné Wares), Shijiazhuang, 2004, no.267. Compare also with two related silver stands, also of lobbed heptagonal form, Ming Dynasty, see ibid, no. 281 and 282. 銀鎏金，杯錘揲成菊瓣形，兩側安靈芝耳，背身鏨刻山水高士遊戲圖，矮圈足，盤成七瓣委角花口形，折沿，口沿鏨刻卷草紋一周，盤心其菊瓣臺，盤面鏨刻高士訪友圖，兩杯紋飾相近，應為原對。 盤面所刻高士頭戴烏紗帽，手指頂端太陽，寓意「指日高升」。文人雅集飲酒最重要的典故當屬六朝時期的蘭亭雅集。是日少長咸集，流觴曲水，留下詩作三十七篇以及書法典範《蘭亭集序》。彼時流行的酒杯當是戰漢以來的漆質羽觴杯，蓋當時所飲當為米酒。元明之後，蒸餾酒日趨流行，因酒精濃度較高，酒杯容量亦趨減少。本對拍品形制雖承宋元，但是體量小巧，正是為當時蒸餾酒所備。 可比較一組類似的明代銀鎏金靈芝耳酒杯，惟無座，見《中國金銀玻璃琺瑯全集》，石家莊，2004年，編號267；同時參考兩件類似形制類似的明代銀盞托，見前書，編號281及282。