AN IMPERIALLY INSCRIBED 'FAMILLE-ROSE' TEAPOT SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

THIS IS A PREMIUM LOT.   CLIENTS WHO WISH TO BID ON PREMIUM LOTS ARE REQUESTED TO COMPLETE THE PREMIUM LOT PRE-REGISTRATION 3 WORKING DAYS PRIOR TO THE SALE.




the finely potted domed body rising to a waisted neck and flared rim, reserved around the sides with a horizontal panel enclosing the poem Sanqing Cha, composed by the Emperor Qianlong, written in kaishu, ending with two mock seals Qian Long, set between two bands of ruyi heads and florets on a pink scroll ground, the shoulders delicately enamelled with finger-citron, plum blossom, and pine growing amid leafy branches, all below a keyfret band, the spout emerging from a band of ruyi heads and decorated with lotus sprays, with an iron-red bat hovering below, the loop handle with further lotus sprays, tied to the top with a simulated ribbon, the neck with a band of pendant leaves under a scroll border, the rim gilt, inscribed on the base with the six-character seal-mark in iron-red

Acquired in France from a provincial antiques dealer.

The teapot, part of a tea set used by the Qianlong Emperor at tea ceremonies held during New Year's celebrations, contains one of his favourite poems, Sanqing cha (Three Purity Tea).  Qianlong wrote this poem in the bingyin year (corresponding to 1746), on the occasion of his 36th birthday while sipping tea in his studio on a cold winter's day.  The poem describes the tea made from plum blossoms, citron finger, and pine nut kernels.  These three ingredients are brewed in snow water, giving the tea a pure quality and special flavour.  The poem further describes the virtues of tea making.  Simplicity, austerity and purity of tea drinking reminds the emperor of Buddhist values. 

The poem is recorded in the Text from the Anthology of Imperial Qianlong Poems, Qing Gao Zong Yu Zhi Shi Wen Quan Ji, Yu Zhi Shi Chu Ji, Juan 36, p. 17.  The following translation by Clarence F. Shangraw is published in 'Chinese Lacquers in Asian Art Museum of San Francisco', Orientations, April 1986, p. 41:

Plum blossoms appear too chastened, 
Buddha hand citron too fragrant
pine nut kernels carry the taste of richness and rarity,
tea like these three would be out of the ordinary.
The water for tea is simply boiled in a broken-legged pot,
so thoroughly that its heat could penetrate through a basket of snow.
Flames shaped like fish and crabs show the strength of the fire as the smoke of the stove appears and disappears in turn.
The Tea like 'fairy's milk' is poured into a Yuezhou tea bowl, here in my studio, just as I am taking an interest in Buddhist thoughts.
The principles of the 'five yun' refer primarly to purity, (like tea) for they defy exposition, but can be readily understood.
The pure, naturally aromatic tea is passed around with hands as soft as a cotton ball.
This tea would be a suitable drink for the immortal Wu Chuan and would certainly be appreciate by Lin Pu.
But I am too lazy to have tea sipping parties like a Zhao Zhu and I cannot help but laugh at the artfulness of a Yu Chuan.
I listen to the sound of the water clock
In the still cold night, 
I look out, gazing at the crescent moon in the sky.
After drinking some wine and tea at my small table, I feel so elated I seek apt verses to express my thoughts.  

See a Qianlong iron-red bowl decorated with this poem, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the exhibition Emperor Qianlong's Grand Cultural Enterprise, Taipei, 2002, cat.no. 51; and another from the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, exhibited in The Life of Qianlong, Macao Museum of Art, Macao, 2002, cat.no. 79.

Compare also a yellow-ground famille rose teapot of related shape, one side painted with a landscape scene and the other with the poem 'Preparing Tea in the Rain' by the Qianlong emperor, sold in our New York rooms, 22nd March 2000, lot 135. A Qianlong teapot of different form, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, similarly inscribed with the poem 'Preparing Tea in the Rain' and decorated with a corresponding landscape scene, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 108.

A further example of a Qianlong teapot painted with the emperor's poem, together with a pair of matching bowls and a tray is included in Kangxi. Yongzheng. Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 12; another pink colour-ground teapot with a design of chrysanthemums in panels in famille rose is published ibid., pl. 46; and a celadon-ground teapot in the Chang Foundation, illustrated in Selected Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1990, pl. 162.