A MAGNIFICENT AND VERY RARE UNDERGLAZE-BLUE AMPHORA-FORM VASE -

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Sale 2711
the imperial saleimportant chinese ceramics and works of art
27 May 2009
Convention Hall Buy Catalog

A MAGNIFICENT AND VERY RARE UNDERGLAZE-BLUE AMPHORA-FORM VASE
QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEALMARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Modelled on a Tang Dynasty prototype, the ovoid body finely painted in Ming style with nine horizontal registers within line borders of floral scrolls above stylised pendent leaves on the tapering body, the uppermost body decorated with six moulded tear-shaped appliqués repeated below each of the dragon strap handles, with bosses rising to the dragon-head terminal which bites the cup-shaped mouth surmounting the ribbed neck
12 3/4 in. (32.4 cm.) high, Japanese wood box

好古慕雅
蘇玫瑰 - 國際亞洲藝術部學術總監

此珍罕精緻的雙龍尊是皇帝把個人愛好引入宮廷的最佳例子。清康熙、雍正、乾隆三朝皇帝均喜歡藝術，收藏文物、品鑑古董，並親自詔令仿製，而於各類仿古藝術品中以仿青銅器的瓷器最為成功。在仿古的瓷器中有的仿古代的器形、仿古代的紋飾再加入時代的新元素。此尊仿唐朝傳瓶式樣，飾明初紋飾。

英文稱此尊為 Amphorae。短頸、小柄、豐肩、歛腹、細足，如新石器時代半坡文化陶俑壺，其造型應由西方傳入中國。Amphorae是指有雙柄或單柄的器皿，其名雖源自拉丁，但是希臘文amphiphoreus的縮寫，為「兩邊」和「帶」兩個意思的組合字。此種器皿古羅馬人盛酒、水、油和穀類之用，有些尖底、有些平底。實用的例子紋飾都很簡單，但希臘人用此器形繪上美麗的紋飾用作泛雅典娜運動會的獎盃。

唐朝的雙龍尊豐肩、歛腹和平底，長頸呈竹節狀；盤口，肩與口環飾對稱雙龍柄 ，此尊於1994年12月1日在紐約佳士得賽克勒專拍中拍出，拍品146號 (圖一)。此種造型的器皿多作雙柄，英國牛津阿什莫爾博物館藏了一件三柄的。而釉彩方面多施單色釉，以白釉最為多見，但也有施綠釉或醬釉，甚至三彩。東京國立博物館藏有一件。 一件私人收藏的唐朝白釉的雙龍尊與本器非常接近，頸有竹節紋、肩有凸起貼花，見1981年紐約/東京出版，佐藤雅彦 (Masahiko Sato)著《Chinese Ceramics: A Short History》圖版77。本拍品充分表現了清十八世紀仿古藝術的神髓。

清十八世紀景德鎮窰廠燒製的雙龍尊多施青花或單色釉。北京故宮博物院藏一件帶雍正款，大小相仿的青花雙龍尊，見2000年香港出版之故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集《青花釉裏紅‧下》圖版94 (圖二)；英國倫敦維多利亞與亞伯特博物館藏一件帶雍正款但較大的青花雙龍尊；北京故宮博物院還藏一件施天藍釉的。傳世品中另著錄了兩件雍正茶葉末釉的，分別藏日本出光美術館和私人之手。一件雍正豆青釉雙龍尊與2004年11月1日在香港佳士得拍出，拍品872號 (圖三)。乾隆朝的雙龍尊非常罕見，可能只在乾隆早期燒製。

清乾隆 青花花卉紋雙龍尊 六字篆書款

此器品相完美，傳世品中未有所見。1995年12月6日於倫敦Phillips 拍賣，拍品 286號。北京故宮博物院和英國維多利亞與亞伯特博物館分別藏有帶雍正款的青花雙龍尊，北京故宮博物院藏的與本器大小相若，維多利亞與亞伯特博物館藏的稍大。

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INSPIRED BY ANTIQUITIES - A SPECTACULAR BLUE AND WHITE QIANLONG AMPHORA
ROSEMARY SCOTT, INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC DIRECTOR, ASIAN ART

This very rare vase is a particularly fascinating example of the way the emperors' interests influenced the objects made for their courts. The three great Qing emperors - Kangxi (1662-1722), Yongzheng (1723-35) and Qianlong (1736-95) - were all enthusiastic collectors of antiques, and all three commissioned items for their courts made in antique styles. These archaistic pieces were made in many media, but those in bronze and ceramic were perhaps the most artistically successful. Those made in ceramic were the most varied - some adapting archaic decoration, some adopting antique forms, and others combining elements of the two. The current 18th century vase has faithfully copied the form of an amphora from the Tang dynasty (AD 618-907), while some of its decoration is in the style of porcelains dating to the first half of the Ming dynasty (AD 1368-1644).

While amphorae with short necks, small handles at the widest part of the body, and pointed bases were made in China at Neolithic sites such as Banpo (5th-4th millennium BC, see The Genius of China, Times Newspapers Ltd., London, 1973, p. 49, no. 19), the form of the current amphora probably entered China from the west. The term amphora refers to vessels with two carrying handles, one on either side. Although the name amphora comes from Latin, that in turn comes from a Greek word amphoreus, short for amphiphoreus, formed by a combination of a term meaning 'on both sides' and one meaning 'to carry' - reference to the handles. Such vessels were used throughout the Graeco-Roman world to store or contain, oil, wine, water, fruit and grain. Some had pointed bases and some had a disk-shaped foot. The Greeks gave beautifully decorated examples as prizes to the victors at Panathenaic games, while simple examples were very popular practical vessels.

In the Tang dynasty amphorae were made with wide shoulders tapering to a relatively narrow foot and flat base, the necks were narrow and quite long with rings around them, while the mouths were dished and the handles were in the form of dragons heads, apparently biting the mouth of the vessel on either side (see fig. 1). Most vessels have two handles, but rare examples, such as the one in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, had three. The Tang vessels were made either with monochrome glazes, most frequently white, but sometimes green or amber, or were decorated in the sancai glaze palette. An example of the latter type from the collection of the Tokyo National Museum is illustrated in Special Exhibition - Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo National Museum, 1994, p. 75, no. 106. A Tang dynasty white-glazed amphora in a private collection (illustrated by Masahiko Sato in Chinese Ceramics: A Short History, Weatherhill/Heibonsha, New York/Tokyo, 1981, p. 53, fig. 77) is particularly close in form to the current Qianlong vessel, having low relief rings around the neck and sprig-moulded palmette appliqués on the shoulder. The current vase demonstrates just how faithfully the 18th century porcelain forms sometimes copied that of the original vessels.

In the 18th century amphorae of this form were made in porcelain at the Jingdezhen kilns and were either decorated in underglaze cobalt blue or were given monochrome glazes. A Yongzheng-marked blue and white amphora of similar size and shape to the current Qianlong example is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 108, no. 94 (see fig. 2). A larger Yongzheng-marked blue and white amphora of the same shape as the current vessel, is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (illustrated by Rose Kerr in Chinese Ceramics - Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1986, p. 30, no. 13). A Yongzheng-marked amphora of this form with monochrome sky-blue glaze is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan - taoci juan, Taipei, 1993, p. 433, no. 906). A Yongzheng amphora of this form with teadust glaze is illustrated by John Ayers in Chinese Ceramics in the Koger Collection, London, 1985, and another teadust-glazed Yongzheng amphora from the Idemitsu collection is illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, 1987, no. 962. A Yongzheng amphora with celadon glaze was sold by Christie's Hong Kong, 1 November 2004, lot 872 (see fig. 3). Qianlong examples of this form are very rare and were probably only made in the early years of the reign.

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN

Previously sold at Phillips London, 6 December 1995, lot 286.

Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art

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