Imperial Porcelain - A Private Collection
Imperial Porcelain - A Private Collection
A RARE CELADON-GLAZED INCISED 'LOTUS' ARCHAISTIC SQUARE VASE, QIANLONG INCISED SEAL MARK AND PERIOD | 清乾隆 粉青釉刻纏枝蓮紋夔龍耳四方尊 《大清乾隆年製》款
Auction Closed
November 6, 11:47 AM GMT
Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
A RARE CELADON-GLAZED INCISED 'LOTUS' ARCHAISTIC SQUARE VASE
QIANLONG INCISED SEAL MARK AND PERIOD
清乾隆 粉青釉刻纏枝蓮紋夔龍耳四方尊 《大清乾隆年製》款
the tapered square body rising to a waisted neck and lipped rim, each corner applied with a stylised kui dragon handle, each side of the body finely incised with dense scrolling foliage bearing large lotus blossoms, all between bands of pendant ruyi heads and lappet borders, the neck similarly incised with upright stylised floral motifs, applied overall with a lustrous sea-green glaze thinning along the edges and pooling to a darker tone within the incised design, the base with an incised six-character seal mark
Height 23 cm, 9 in.
This vase is remarkable for its pleasing proportions, watery celadon glaze and subtly incised floral scroll. It encapsulates the prevailing taste at the Qianlong court for porcelain that adapted familiar forms and combined them with novel designs. The facetted shape and four dragon handles were inspired by archaic bronze vessels of the Eastern Zhou period (770-256 BC), while its incised feathery scroll is strongly indebted to French Rococo. The craftsman who made this piece successfully adapted the somewhat austere archaic bronze shape to the sophisticated taste of the Qing court by diminishing the size of the four handles and incising the body with a luxuriant scroll.
Vases of this unusual form and incised with a floral scroll are rare. A vase of similar form but with an incised floral scroll rendered in gilt, formerly in the Robert Chang Collection, was included in the exhibition Important Chinese Ceramics from the Robert Chang Collection, Christie's London, 1993, cat. no. 113, then sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 27th April 1993, lot 246. Compare also with a pair of reticulated vases of related form but larger size, similarly fashioned with four dragon-shaped handles on the neck and decorated in famille-rose enamels against a celadon ground, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29th May 2007, lot 1370.
For the prototype of this form, see a bronze fanghu with large dragon handles at the four corners, attributed to the 4th century BC, unearthed in Pingshan, Hebei province, and illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji, Dong Zhou [Complete Collection of Chinese Bronzes. Eastern Zhou], vol. 9, Beijing, 1997, pl. 154.
本尊比例勻稱，粉青釉瑩潤，纏枝蓮紋含蓄秀例。乾隆瓷器取多經典，以新穎紋飾重新組合，本品亦屬此例。方壺及四龍耳器型源自東周青銅器，卷草紋則源材法國洛可可藝術風格。東周方壺樸雅簡約，本尊則四龍耳尺寸較小，更顯釉色瑩亮，加之紋飾秀麗，從中可見清朝宮廷瓷器品味高雅。
本品器型罕見，帶刻花紋飾者更為難得，唯可比較一例，器型相近，描金紋飾，出自張宗憲收藏，曾展於《Important Chinese Ceramics from the Robert Chang Collection》，倫敦佳士得， 1993年，編號113，售於香港蘇富比1993年4月27日，編號246。比較一對縷空尊例，尺寸較大，四龍耳與本品相近，青釉，粉彩紋飾，售於香港佳士得2007年5月29日，編號1370。
本品原型，參考一件河北平山出土青銅方壺，四方帶龍狀壺耳，壺耳較本品為大，斷代公元前四世紀，圖載於《中國青銅器-東周》，卷9，北京，1997年，圖版154。