AN IMPERIAL INSCRIBED FAMILLE-ROSE 'FINGER CITRON' WALL VASE SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

modelled in the form of a meiping secured by a gilt-decorated trompe l'oeil imitation-lacquer stand with a ripe finger citron borne on a thin leafy stem to one side, the vessel exquisitely decorated along the shoulder with a stylised floral frieze above a ruyi-shaped collar suspending tassels of florets, below further stylised bands of floral scrolls and lappets along the mouthrim and neck respectively, the body inscribed with an imperial poem and a yuti mark followed by two iron-red seal marks reading Qianlong chen han ('the Qianlong Emperor's own mark') and Weijing weiyi ('be precise, be undivided'), the base with an underglaze-blue horizontal four-character seal mark

Small areas to the extremities of the finger citron have been slightly retouched, possibly to stabilise typical enamel flakes. There are also expected occasional wear to the enamels, iron-red and gilding, but the yangcai decoration has been generally well preserved.
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Realistically modelled as a meiping and finely enamelled, accompanied by a fruit next to the stand, the present wall vase is representative of the refined material, extraordinary craftsmanship and innovative artistic ambitions epitomised by the Qianlong Emperor’s reign. In spite of the poem written in accordance with Chinese calligraphic tradition, an air of exoticism surrounds this vase through the rococo-inspired trompe l'oeil floral band collaring its neck. For comparable borders with florets and ruyi-heads, see for instance a vase in the Palace Museum, Beijing, from the Qing Court collection, included in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille-rose, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 32.

The application of famille-rose enamels on a dongqing (‘winter green’) celadon-glazed ground on the present piece is particularly noteworthy. The combination highlights the beautiful contrast between the opulence of the enamels and the cleanliness of the glaze. It appears to be a creation of the early Qianlong period and was mentioned in court records as early as the 6th month of the 8th year (corresponding to 1743); see Zhang Faying ed., Tang Ying du tao wendang [Archive on Tang Ying’s Supervision of the Imperial Kilns], Beijing, 2012, p. 160. One of the rare examples utilising this colour scheme is an inscribed teapot in the Chang Foundation which is painted with pine, prunus and finger citrons, illustrated in James Spencer, Selected Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1990, pl. 162. Compare also two revolving bowls as well as a revolving vase, dated between the 8th and 9th year (1743-4), in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, exhibited in Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch’ien-lung Reign, Taipei, 2008, cat. nos. 63-64, 72.

The Qianlong Emperor enjoyed objects that were simulations of other materials and he challenged craftsmen to create pieces that were technically pioneering and unconventional in their aesthetics. The current piece, with a faux-bois stand and a finger citron, epitomises the excellent imitation pieces of this period. One of the few comparable examples is a larger but similarly conceived wall vase from the collection of T.T. Tsui, published in The Tsui Museum of Art. Chinese Ceramics IV. Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 168. Sturdily potted in the form of a gilt-decorated blue-glazed meiping, it is applied with a leafy sprig of blooming lotus and similarly skirted by an imitation-lacquer stand.

The imperial poem inscribed on the current piece, composed in the 7th month of the 8th year of the Qianlong period (corresponding to 1743), appears to have been a favourite of the Emperor. On the 4th day in the 8th month of the 8th year, the Emperor specifically instructed Tang Ying to produce several wall vases with the newly composed poem; see Tang Ying du tao wendang, op.cit., p. 161. See a pair of famille-rose wall vases with the same iron-red seals and poem in clerical script, preserved in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, exhibited in Stunning Decorative Porcelains, op.cit., cat. no. 70. The cobalt-blue four-character seal marks on the National Palace vases are also highly comparable to the one on our present piece. According to the catalogue entry (p. 203), the pair can be dated to the 8th year, most likely delivered to Qianqinggong ['The Palace of Ultimate Purity'] no later than the end of the 10th month in the same year. This poem can also be found in clerical script on another wall vase from the Qing court Collection, which is still preserved in Beijing and illustrated in Gugong Bowuyuan cang gu taoci ziliao xuancui [Selection of ancient ceramic material from the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2005, vol. 2, cat. no. 202.