25 gravures d'après Giuseppe Castiglione représentant les conquêtes de l'empereur de Chine Chine, dynastie Qing, époque Qianlong (1736-1795)

comprenant deux gravures tirées de la série de seize gravures de la campagne du Turkestan de l'Est (1755-1759), neuf  gravures tirées de la série de seize gravures de la campagne du Jinchuan (1771-1776), neuf gravures tirées de la série de douze gravures de la série de la campagne contre Taiwan (1787-1788) et quatre gravures tirées de la série des seize gravures de la campagne contre les Miao au Hunan (1795), 19 gravures encadrées sous verre, six non encadrées

East Turkestan Campaign 1: Light overall foxing, ca.1cm long wormhole near upper middle rim, mounted on cardboard, folded and under glass. 1.14: Good overall condition. Mounted on cardboard and folded. Jinchuan Campaign 2.2: Some light yellowish staining along central fold, mounted on cardboard and under glass. 2.5: Some light yellowish staining along central fold, mounted on cardboard and under glass. 2.6: Some light yellowish staining along central fold, mounted on cardboard, folded and under glass. 2.7: Overall good condition, some light wear along the edges, mounted on cardboard, folded and under glass. 2.8: Overall good condition. Mounted on cardboard and folded, under glass. 2.10: Overall good condition. Some yellowish staining on upper right hand corner. Mounted on cardboard, folded and under glass. 2.11: Some light yellowish staining along central fold, mounted on cardboard and under glass. 2.12: Paper turned yellowish along the edges, ca. 2.5cm long wormhole to the left and right of upper central part, mounted on cardboard and folded. 2.13: Paper turned yellowish along the edges, three ca. 1 to 2.5cm long wormholes to the left and right of upper central part, mounted on cardboard, folded and under glass. 2.14: Yellowish staining to the upper parts of the engraving, two ca. 3cm long wormholes to the left and right upper central part, mounted on cardboard, folded and under glass. 2.15: two ca. 2cm long wormholes to the left and right upper central part, mounted on cardboard, folded and under glass. Campaign in Taiwan 3.1: Overall a little yellowed. Some light wear to paper along the edges. Several larger stains on the middle left hand side and the middle of the lower rim. mounted on cardboard and folded. 3.2: Good overall condition. Slightly yellowish, some wear along the edges. Mounted on cardboard and folded. 3.3: Good overall condition. Some larger stains in the lower part of the engraving. Mounted on cardboard, folded and under glass. 3.5: Good overall condition. A yellowish stain to the lower central part of the engraving and a small area of loss to the paper in the upper right hand corner. Mounted on cardboard, folded and under glass. 3.6: Light overall foxing and staining. Water stain and tear to the upper left hand corner. Mounted on cardboard and folded. 3.7: Light overall foxing. Some loss to the paper in the upper left hand corner and along the central fold. Mounted on cardboard, folded and under glass. 3.8: Light overall foxing. Mounted on cardboard, folded and under glass. 3.9: Light overall foxing and staining. Mounted on cardboard and folded. 3.10: Light overall foxing and staining, particularly to the lower parts of the engraving. Mounted on cardboard and folded. Campaign against the Miao 6.13: Overall good condition. Mounted on cardboard, folded and under glass. 6.14: Light foxing across the engraving. Mounted on cardboard, folded and under glass. 6.16: Good overall condition. Mounted on cardboard, folded and under glass.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

On July 13th 1765, by Imperial decree, the Qianlong emperor ordered that sixteen drawings made by Castiglione and three other Jesuits of his victories in Central Asia should be sent to Europe for engraving in copper, the copper plates together with one hundred sets of engravings to be sent to him in Beijing. They were, in fact, sent to Paris where the Royal engraver Cochin was put in charge of this order. The work of engraving was distributed to the best French artists of the day. The engravings reached China in 1775. None of the original engravings were kept in France and in 1788 helman published a new set of the conquest engravings in reduced form. Subsequently, Chinese artists were instructed to produce copper engravings of further Imperial victories on the frontiers of Tibet, in Formosa, in Nepal, Annan, Yunnan, Hunan and again in Turkestan.

The present lot comprises alltogether 25 engravings taken from the first set of engravings orderered in 1765, and three sets subsequently produced by Chinese artists to commemorate later victories. Amon them are two engravings taken from the series of sixteen engravings of the  East Turkestan campaign (1755-1759), nine engravings taken from the series of sixteen engravings of the Jinchuan campaign (1771-1776), nine engravings taken from the series of twelve engravings of the campaign against Taiwan (1787-1788), and four engravings taken from the series of sixteen engravings of the campaign against the Miao in Hunan (1795).