AN EXQUISITE PAIR OF IMPERIAL BEIJING ENAMEL FACETTED VASES -

(Set Currency)

HK$5,000,000 - HK$7,000,000
• ($647,117 - $905,963)

• Track Lot
• Place Bid

Sale 2811
The Imperial Sale Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
31 May 2010
Hong Kong Buy Catalog

AN EXQUISITE PAIR OF IMPERIAL BEIJING ENAMEL FACETTED VASES
YONGZHENG BLUE-ENAMEL FOUR-CHARACTER MARKS WITHIN DOUBLE SQUARES AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735)

Each of octagonal section, the facetted sides delicately enamelled and stippled with shaped panels, each depicting a pair of geese in flight and on the banks of a river flanked by branches of millet and tree peony set against a finely shaded blue sky, the panels reserved against a vibrant yellow ground between formal lotus blooms borne on leafy stems around the neck and conforming octagonal foot, the round rim encircled by a band of keyfret, the interior enamelled turquoise, the base with the blue enamel mark reserved on a white ground
5 1/8 in. (13.2 cm.) high, white jade inserts, wood stands, Japanese wood box (2)

清雍正 御製銅胎畫琺瑯八棱開光蘆雁圖尊一對 雙方框《雍正年製》楷書款

尊呈八棱形，盤口，束頸，溜肩，隨形圈足。器內施松綠石釉，外壁通體畫琺瑯。盤口壁繪迴紋；每棱頸肩處及足牆繪番蓮紋；器腹八面開光，繪河塘蘆雁圖，河塘邊綠草如茵，紅花枝繁葉茂，三隻蘆雁引頸高吭，另一隻盤旋半空。底施白釉，雙方框內書「雍正年製」楷書款。頂配白玉蓋，蓋上有六孔，以便作花插使用。

此器釉色溫潤，色彩明快，通體施黃色釉為地，以西洋技法，襯以中國畫圖案，且用筆工整細緻，盡顯宮廷作坊工匠技藝的高超，為融會中西為一體的精品。

此器為著名日本藝術收藏家中野忠太郎 (1862-1939)之舊藏，二十世紀初購入。

蘆汀來雁: 銅胎開光畫琺瑯畫蘆雁圖八棱尊
蘇玫瑰 – 國際亞洲藝術部學術總監

這對彌足珍貴的八棱尊是雍正時期的御製器物，其精湛細膩的工藝盡得當時宮廷琺瑯器之神韻。此器的琺瑯料及施彩均為上乘，連瓶口用於固定花莖的帶孔白玉蓋亦工料俱佳，外觀美不勝收。

在北京故宮博物院珍藏中，有一件清宮舊藏銅胎畫琺瑯提樑壺 (圖一)，其器身亦呈八棱，裝飾手法與本拍品如出一轍，請參見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集：金屬胎琺瑯器 (香港：2002) 頁210編號201。此外，該藏品和本拍品一樣，每個棱面均設藍框白地開光，內繪花鳥圖景，背景的淡藍天空曠遠朦朧。壺身開光上方及壺蓋皆飾以工整的黃地纏枝花葉，與本拍品開光上下的紋飾大致相同。北京故宮提樑壺署乾隆四字楷書款，觀乎其細膩的畫工及淡雅的背景，應是乾隆初年的作品。

台北國立故宮博物院藏一件乾隆銅胎畫琺瑯小瓶，瓶身繪江渚蘆雁，或展翅翱翔，或留連於蘆葦牡丹叢中，圖見《明清琺瑯器》展覽圖錄 (台北：1999) 頁220-221編號112，構圖近似本拍品。較諸雍正時期的作品，乾隆瓶的天空、白雲和奇石的描寫較為繁缛，但二者口沿均飾一道回紋。台北故宮珍藏乾隆瓶是用藍色琺瑯彩署雙圈四字楷書款，其樣式與本拍品的雍正款相同。

鴻雁展翅或徜徉於江渚蘆葦或花叢一類的題材，亦見於乾隆御製琺瑯彩瓷。其中一例是大維德中國藝術館藏茶壺，圖見蘇玫瑰所著《For the Imperial Court - Qing Porcelain from the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art》(紐約及新加坡：1997) 頁100-101編號34。台北故宮珍藏一件小巧玲瓏的乾隆褐彩瓷盃，其布局與本拍品近似，請參閱《清宮中琺瑯彩瓷特展》(台北：1992) 頁148編號72。

此外，台北故宮珍藏中尚有兩件乾隆年間的作品，足證此類描寫鳥類在江渚之上或飛或佇 (至少有一鳥展翅飛翔) 的題材在十八世紀三十年代頗為流行：一例是公元1737年御製松花石硯，其蓋以在蘆汀徘徊高飛的白鷺為飾，圖見《乾隆皇帝的文化大業》頁42-3編號I-27 (台北：國立故宮博物院)；另一例是乾隆象牙臂擱，其穹起面雕飾在江畔徜徉翱翔之秋雁，題識所示年份約為公元1739年，圖見前述著作頁55編號I-43。

雁渚圖常繪一秋鴻飛至蘆汀與同伴會合，此類題材在中國繪畫史上源遠流長，最早可上溯至北宋的《瀟湘八景圖》，多個版本中年代最早者應出自宋迪 (約公元1015至1080年)。清宮舊藏中或許有一幅明代雁渚畫，十八世紀御製畫琺瑯瓷器及金屬胎琺瑯器應視之為描摹對象，就此可參照台北故宮藏明代呂紀 (活躍於公元1439至1505年)《秋渚水禽圖軸》，圖見《故宮書畫圖錄》第七冊頁179。該畫的對角線構圖呼之欲出，其佈局與本拍品的開光大致相同，亦與南宋繪畫遙相呼應。右下角的蘆雁翹首左望，仿佛在天際尋找同伴的影蹤。呂紀畫中雖未見飛鴻，但十八世紀畫琺瑯金屬器及瓷器大多會在圖側上方繪一飛鳥。
此類題材畫意綿長，其魅力顯而易見，但當中蘊含的吉祥寓意也與其風行不衰大有關係。據說鴻雁生死相依，故被視為婚嫁吉慶之徵。相傳，公元二世紀漢使蘇武因鴻雁傳書而獲釋，因此大雁也代表報喜的信使。《禮記‧月令》有云：「季秋之月，鴻雁來賓」，後來秋雁漸引申為長壽之徵，飛雁則喻指「飛鴻延年」。鴻雁的佈局亦暗藏玄機，飛鴻為「上」，渚雁為「下」，二者並置暗指天地乾坤，隱指「福滿乾坤」。關於雁渚的象徵意義，請參閱謝瑞華於《Orientations》1988年8月卷19第8期頁23-30發表的《Pious hopes carved on Chinese beads - A discussion of Rebuses and Legends in Chinese Art》內文。

I confirm that I have read this Important Notice and agree to its terms.

Collection of Chutaro Nakano (1862-1939), Japan, acquired in the early 20th century

'A FEAST FOR AUTUMN GUESTS'
ROSEMARY SCOTT - INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC DIRECTOR, ASIAN ART

This pair of rare and exquisite vases was made for the imperial court of the Yongzheng emperor, and exemplify the delicacy and artistic refinement of enamelled wares commissioned during his reign. Not only are the enamels and their application of the highest standard, the beautiful white jade pierced flower holders made for the mouth of each vase also represent both materials and craftsmanship of the finest quality.

An enamelled kettle with looped handle and warming stand from the Qing court collection, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is decorated in a very similar style to the current pair of vases and is also octagonal in form (see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Metal Bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 210, no. 201). Like the vases, on each facet of the kettle is a reserved panel, bordered in blue, showing birds and flowers in a landscape setting with hazy pale blue sky. Above the kettle panels and on its lid are flowers with symmetrically-placed scrolling leaves on a yellow ground, very similar to those seen on the vases above and below the reserved panels. The Beijing kettle bears a four-character Qianlong mark, but the delicate painting style and the subtlety of the background to the panels suggests that it was made early in the reign period.

The National Palace Museum, Taipei, has in its collection a small Qianlong vase decorated in enamels on metal with a design of wild geese flying above a river bank and standing by the water with reeds and peonies (illustrated in Enamel ware in the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties, Taipei, 1999, pp. 220-221, no. 112) similar to those on the current vases. The Qianlong vase, however has more heavily painted sky, clouds and rocks than on the Yongzheng vases, although it shares with the latter a minor band of squared spirals around the mouth. Like the Yongzheng marks on the current vases, the Qianlong mark on the small Taipei vase is a four-character mark written in blue enamel within a double square.

The theme of wild geese flying above or standing on a river banks with reeds and flowers appears on several imperial Qianlong falangcai enamelled porcelains. One is a teapot in the collection of the Percival David Foundation (illustrated by Rosemary Scott in For the Imperial Court - Qing Porcelain from the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, New York and Singapore, 1997, pp. 100-101, no. 34). A similar scene is depicted on a small Qianlong sepia enamelled falangcai porcelain cup preserved in the National Palace Museum Taipei (illustrated in Special Exhibition of Ch'ing Dynasty Enamelled Porcelains of the Imperial Ateliers, Taipei, 1992, p. 148, no. 72).

The popularity of the theme of birds on a river bank, with some of the birds on the ground and at least one flying above, in the 1730s, is confirmed by two dated Qianlong pieces in the collection of the National Place Museum, Taipei. An imperial songhua inkstone, dated to AD 1737, is decorated on the cover with egrets amongst and above reeds on a river bank (illustrated in Emperor Ch'ien-lung's Grand Cultural Enterprise, National Palace Museum, Taipei, p. 42-3, no. I-27). Wild geese standing on a river bank and flying overhead, can be seen on the convex surface of a Qianlong ivory wrist rest (illustrated in ibid., p. 55, no. I-43). The Taipei wrist rest, bears an inscription dating it to the equivalent of AD 1739.

The subject of geese on the river bank, often depicting one goose flying to join its mate on a sand bank with reeds, has a long history in Chinese painting, and can be seen as early as the Northern Song dynasty in versions of Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers, the earliest of which appears to have been painted by Song Di (c. 1015-c. 1080). However, it seems more likely that it was a Ming dynasty painting of this subject, preserved in the Imperial collection, that may have provided inspiration for both the imperial 18th century enamelled porcelain and enamelled metalwork vessels decorated with this theme. A Ming painting by Lu Ji (fl. 1439-1505), entitled Wild Geese and Wagtails on an Autumn Islet, is preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (see Gugong Shuhua tulu [Illustrated Catalogue of Painting and Calligraphy in the National Palace Museum], vol. 7, p. 179). Like most of the panels on the current vases, this painting has a strong diagonal division in its composition, reminiscent of Southern Song paintings, and one of the geese in the lower right of the composition looks up to the left as if searching the skies for its mate. In Lu Ji's painting the mate is not shown, but on the 18th century enamelled metalwork and porcelains the flying bird can usually be seen in the far upper corner.

While the pictorial attraction of this theme is obvious, its popularity can also be explained by the symbolism incorporated in the subject. Geese mate for life and so are often associated with weddings. Geese are also seen as bringers of good news, due to the role played by a goose in the story of the 2nd century official Su Wu. Geese are also mentioned in the Liji [Book of Rites] as coming as guests for the autumn, and have come to be associated with longevity. The wild goose in flight suggests the phrase fei hong yannian, 'may the flying wild goose lengthen your years'. The positioning of the geese is also significant - with the flying goose representing 'above' and the geese standing on the river bank representing 'below', to suggest the phrase huanle tian shangxia, 'happiness in the universe', where the universe is represented by 'heaven above and below'. For further discussion of this symbolism, see Terese Tse Bartholomew, 'Pious hopes carved on Chinese beads - A discussion of Rebuses and Legends in Chinese Art', Orientations, vol. 19 no. 8, August 1988, pp. 23-30.

• Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art

• early 18th Century
• birds
• All other categories of objects
• vases
• enamel
• China
• Qing dynasty (1644-1911)

• IMPORTANT NOTICE
• Conditions of Business for this Sale