“D.G. Messerschmidt’s Cups”

Abstract

We describe two metal vessels, procured by looters and offered to D.G. Messerschmidt, who in 1722 traveled across southern Krasnoyarsk Territory. A bronze cup, judging by a description in researcher’s journal and by the accompanying drawing, resembled Old Turkic specimens. However, the hunting scene engraved on its body suggests Chinese provenance. A silver vessel from the vestry of Fort Karaulny church is peculiar to 7th–10th century Sogdian toreutics. It evidently belongs to a group of vessels with polygonal bodies, specifi cally to type 1—octagonal. Having been manufactured in Sogd, polygonal vessels were exported to China. Chinese jewelers copied the form of “wine cups” and adorned them with traditional fl oral designs and various scenes. An octagonal silver cup with an Uyghur inscription, found in 1964 in a kurgan at a medieval cemetery Nad Polyanoi, was likewise manufactured by Tang artisans. Other polygonal silver cups are listed—heptagonal and sexagonal. It is concluded that vessels made of precious metals testify to stable trade relations that emerged in 700–1100 and connected Siberia with Sogd and the Tang Empire.