- 512
AN YIXING STONEWARE 'RIBBON SASH' BOX AND COVER BY CHEN HANWEN AND AN IMPERIAL ZITAN BOX AND COVER QING DYNASTY, EARLY 18TH CENTURY
Description
- stoneware
Provenance
Literature
Condition
"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."
Catalogue Note
The Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperors were fascinated by objects that simulate other materials, the former particularly drawn to Japanese lacquer. A rare Yongzheng reign-marked lacquer tea tray influenced by Japanese prototypes in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Evelyn S. Rawski and Jessica Rawson (editors), China. The Three Emperors, 1662-1795, London, 2005, cat. no.185
The knotted cloth is a Japanese concept reflecting Japanese furoshiki packaging customs. This decoration, simulating a textile wrapping around the vessel appears on a variety of media made in the imperial workshops of the Qianlong Emperor, including porcelain, metal-bodied wares with painted enamels, cloisonné, glass and wood or lacquer. Examples include a Qianlong reign-marked metal-bodied jar painted in enamels with a knotted cloth in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in the exhibition Splendours of China's Forbidden City. The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong, The Field Museum, Chicago, 2004, cat. no. 336; a porcelain zun-shaped vase painted with a pink-coloured knotted ribbon illustrated in Kangxi. Yongzheng. Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 40, and a Qianlong enamelled glass vase modelled in the form of a yellow brocade bag with a pink sash at the neck looped in a knot, from the collections of Prince Gong Yixin, A.W. Bahr and Paul and Helen Bernat, sold in these rooms, 15th November 1988, lot 77, and now in the collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, included in the exhibition China. The Three Emperors 1662-1795, op.cit., cat. no. 99. For examples of Japanese lacquer boxes see those included in the exhibition, Toyo no urushi kogei (Oriental Lacquer Arts), Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1977, cat. no. 297.
The closest published example to the current zitan box and cover is another example in zitan, similarly carved with archaistic designs in low levels of relief, exhibited in Jinxiang yuzhi: Qingdai gongting baozhuang yishu/Qing Legacies: The Sumptuous Art of Imperial Packaging, Macao Museum of Art, Macau, 2000, cat. no. 47. A Chinese lacquer box with the knotted design was also included in the exhibition Imperial Packing Art of the Qing Dynasty, op. cit., cat. no. 161.