AN EXTREMELY RARE FAMILLE-ROSE 'XIWANGMU' VASE ATTRIBUTED TO TANG JINTANG, QING DYNASTY, YONGZHENG PERIOD, DATED 1730 |

thinly potted with a tapering ovoid body rising to a waisted neck below a metal-mounted rim, vibrantly enamelled in brilliant shades of pink, blue, green, white and yellow with a continuous scene depicting Xiwangmu, Queen Mother of the West, riding on a bearded lion on a lotus leaf, accompanied by two female attendants, one greeting her with a double gourd emitting a heavenly pavilion and the other with a wrapped vase beside a basket of flowers, next to a peacock looking up at a monkey holding a large peach in the clouds, near three other standing maidens, one holding a fly whisk standing on a bamboo instrument, one pointing at the monkey standing on a double gourd, and one holding an elaborate peacock feather fan standing on a butterfly, all above white-enamelled crested waves, inscribed with a three-character title Xian shou tu (Birthday Presentation Picture) and a seal reading wo yue (reclining on the moon), followed by an eighteen-character inscription dated to the gengxu year (in accordance with 1730) followed by a two-character seal inscription qi yun (nestling among clouds)

Sotheby's London, 6th July 1971, lot 264.
Christie's London, 3rd May 1976, lot 140.
Bonhams London, 8th June 2004, lot 100.

Anthony du Boulay, Christie's Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, Oxford, 1984, p. 244, pl. 4.

Good overall condition. As visible in the photo, the rim is bound in white metal.
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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."

Exquisitely painted to the finest details, the present vase is of unrivalled historical importance. This vessel, together with a pair of famille-rose vases preserved in Amsterdam, are probably the only surviving examples attributable to the enameller Tang Jintang, a Canton master who was later invited to join the imperial enamel workshop in the Forbidden City. Although scholars nowadays have learned the names of some of the enamel masters, especially those who served the Qing court, matching individual works to specific enamellers remains virtually impossible. The present vase and the Amsterdam pair are hence rare specimens crucial to the study of 18th century Canton enamelled porcelains. Delicately potted with an ‘egg-shell’ body, this vase is painted with female deities gliding on waves, exhibiting characteristics associated with 18th century enamelled porcelains. From the overall composition down to the smallest stroke, everything suggests that it is the work of a highly-skilled hand and a meticulous mind. Xiwangmu is depicted in her pastel-coloured robe with a gilt-embellished black-and-white shawl, carrying a ruyi sceptre and riding on a Buddhist lion above cresting waves. One of the two deities behind her is raising a double gourd, which emits fume forming a shou character below a celestial palace, while the other female deity is presenting a tray with a blooming peony. Another group of three follows, led by an immortal standing on a floating leaf and focusing on the peach-bearing monkey in the sky. The pair of young deities behind, riding on a double-gourd and a butterfly respectively, are holding elaborately designed fans; one is made of translucent gauze, the other is decorated with peacock feathers. The inscription, entitled Xianshou tu (Birthday Presentation Picture), may be translated as, ‘In the year gengxu (1730), mid-autumn, I chanced to paint this at my sea house on the Pearl River (Zhujiang) in Lingnan (Guangdong Province). Signed Baiyun jushi (Master of the White Clouds); and bears two seals wo yue (reclining on the moon) and qi yun (nestling among clouds).’

A smaller pair of ‘egg-shell’ famille-rose ovoid vases (15.3 cm), deftly painted with elegant ladies playing Chinese chess, was transferred from the collection of renowned Dutch sinologist Jean Theodore Royer (1737-1807) to the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam in 1885 (nos AK-NM-6352-A and NM-6352-B); see Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam: The Ming and Qing Dynasties, Amsterdam, 1997, cat. no. 235 (fig. 1). The ladies, with beautiful eyes and soft, slender hands, are dressed in luxurious embroidered robes. Their postures and draperies, especially the ends of the scarfs and waistbands, are painted in a naturalistic style closely related to that of the present vase. From the subtlety of the colour gradation to the delicately incised or painted patterns on the garments, all the details suggest the Amsterdam vases were enamelled by the same hand. The lady seated at the bottom right of the chess scene, wearing a yellow-and-turquoise brocade dress and a gilt-decorated black-and-white gradient shawl, shares a great number of similarities with the immortals on our present vase. Each of the Rijksmuseum vases bears an inscription Boyi tu (Picture of a Chess Game), followed by jiachen huachao xie yu Lingnan Zhujiang jingshe (painted on the day of the Flower Festival in the jiachen year at the charming house on the Pearl River in Lingnan) and a seal reading Tang Jintang (for an illustration of the inscription, see Gao Yang, ‘A Pair of Canton Enamel Porcelain Masterpieces in the Rijksmuseum’, Aziatische Kunst [Asian art], October 2018, vol. 48, no. 2, p. 56, fig. 2).

Tang Jintang is mentioned in a record dated to the 6th year of the Qianlong reign (1741) in the court archives (The First Historical Archives of China, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, eds, Qinggong Neiwufu Zaobanchu dang’an zonghui [General collection of archival records from the Qing imperial household department workshop], Beijing, 2005, vol. 10, p. 292; fig. 2): “On the 12th day of the 4th month, Treasurer Bai Shixiu, as told by Eunuch Gao Yu, asked Haiwang to summon enamel painters Hui Lian, Tang Jintang and Li Huilin from Canton,” and “On the 19th day of the 10th month, the three newly arrived enamel painters were to be brought to Falangchu (enamel department).” However, on the 3rd day of the following month, when Prince Yi and Haiwang sought his Majesty’s approval of the salaries for the newly arrived Canton enamel painters, the list did not include Tang, but rather Dang Yingshi, Li Huilin and Hu Liyun, whose skills were said to be “somewhat inferior” in order to justify a reduced wage of six ounces of silver per month (ibid., p. 312). There is no further mention of Tang Jintang in the surviving court archives and it is believed that, despite the imperial command, Tang never made it to Beijing (Yang Boda, ‘A Brief Account of the Historical Materials of Guangdong Artisans Serving in the Ch’ing Court in the Eighteenth Century’, Journal of Chinese Studies, 1987, vol. 18, p. 125).

Although based in Canton, Tang Jintang’s extraordinary enamelling skills must have made him so famous that even the court in Beijing noticed. In the early Qianlong period, at the height of the Empire, the trading port Canton was at the frontier of cross-cultural interactions with the West. Not only was it a cradle of the art of enamelling, providing many skilled artisans to the court, the southern city also engaged in related material and technological exchange with the capital since the late Kangxi period (Shih Chingfei, Radiant Luminance: The Painted Enamelware of the Qing Imperial Court, Taipei, 2012, pp. 177-178). However, little is known about these Canton enamel masters such as Tang Jintang, not even his dates of birth and death. Gao Yang suggests that Tang must have been over 30 years old by 1741 when he was summoned to the court (op.cit., p. 56). The cyclic year jiachen on the Amsterdam vases most likely refers to the 2nd year of the Yongzheng period (1724), instead of 60 years later, i.e. the 49th year of the Qianlong period (1784), when Tang would have been over 70 years old, an advanced age which is normally incompatible with finely executed works. Likewise, the present vase was probably made in the 8th year of the Yongzheng period (1730), eleven years earlier than the court order. A Yongzheng attribution is also supported by many scholars and specialists, who for decades have been dating this vase to 1730.

Compare a pair of ‘egg-shell’ famille-rose cups and saucers decorated with cockerels and peonies in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (no. AK-NM-12028-3). Titled Gongming fugui tu (Picture of honour and wealth), each of the saucers bears a related inscription jiachen huachao xie yu Zhujiang jingshe (painted on the day of the Flower Festival in the jiachen year at the charming house on the Pearl River) and a seal reading baishi (white stone), dated to 1724 and illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, op.cit., cat. no. 236. The long-time usage of the baishi seal and the inferior quality of the related pieces made Gao Yang suspect that they were not enamelled by Tang himself, but rather his students or workshop (op.cit., pp. 56-57). There is a similar set of twelve ‘cockerel and peony’ cups and saucers with the seal baishi shan ren (Hermit of the white stone mountain) in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, British Museum, London (no. PDF,A.835). A Qianlong date has been assigned to the set, and Rosemary Scott explains that, although similar baishi wares are associated with the jiachen year 1724, the date probably indicates when the design was created, rather than the actual production time of individual ‘cockerel’ utensils (see Illustrated Catalogue of Qing Enamelled Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, rev. ed., London, 1991, p. 56, no. A835, unillustrated). The British Museum also has a famille-rose dish with flowers and fruits attributed to the Yongzheng period, signed Lingnan hui zhe (painter in Lingnan) in clerical script and followed by the seal baishi (no. 1890,1006.5).

Through the ages of Chinese history, painting and calligraphy have always been considered superior to artefacts. Regardless of expertise and accomplishments, the creators of works of art are craftsmen instead of artists. Records of these artisans are, sadly, extremely limited. One single entry of Tang Jintang in the court archives is far from enough to unveil the life of the Canton enamel master. Stylistic analysis can perhaps supplement our understanding, albeit minimally. See, for example, a lantern vase decorated in a similar style and palette, depicting three of the Eight Immortals, Lu Dongbin, Zhang Guo and Li Tieguai, attributed to the Yongzheng period, sold in these rooms, 8th October 2008, lot 2595. The immortals, naturalistically painted with wrinkled faces, are also dressed in layered robes with ribbons terminating in ruffled ends. The lack of a signature or an inscription, however, makes it impossible to identify the painter with any great confidence.