Important Chinese Art including Imperial Jades from the De An Tang Collection
Important Chinese Art including Imperial Jades from the De An Tang Collection
A rare 'qiangjin' and 'tianqi' lacquer 'scholar' box and cover Mark and period of Wanli, dated to the gengxu year, corresponding to 1610 | 明萬曆 戧金填漆周敦頤賞蓮圖委角方盒 《大明萬曆庚戌年製》款
Auction Closed
October 13, 04:27 AM GMT
Estimate
300,000 - 400,000 HKD
Lot Details
Description
A rare 'qiangjin' and 'tianqi' lacquer 'scholar' box and cover
Mark and period of Wanli, dated to the gengxu year, corresponding to 1610
明萬曆 戧金填漆周敦頤賞蓮圖委角方盒 《大明萬曆庚戌年製》款
of square section with cusped corners, incised and decorated in polychrome lacquer on a brown lacquer ground, the cover with a seated scholar, possibly Zhou Dunyi, looking at a lotus pond, an attendant standing beside him holding a fan while another carries a wine ewer, the sky figured with leiwen enclosing wan symbols, all surrounded by detached lotus scrolls within recessed panels repeated around the box and camellia sprays on the rims and on the corners, the foot picked out with swirling clouds, the interior and the base lacquered in red, the base incised with an eight-character reign mark in gilt
13.8 by 21 by 21 cm
Collection of Sir John and Lady Figgess.
Christie's London, 14th December 1983, lot 11.
菲格斯爵士伉儷收藏
倫敦佳士得1983年12月14日，編號11
This box portrays the Song dynasty scholar Zhou Dunyi (1017-1073). Known for his love of lotus flowers, depictions of Zhou Dunyi found popularity during the Yuan dynasty and continued into the Ming period when he was often portrayed with the scholars Wang Xizhi (303-361), Tao Yuanming (365-427) and Meng Haoran (689 or 691-740); for example see a Wanli mark and period blue-and-white meiping decorated with this subject, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994, pl. 725.
Compare a qiangjin and tianqi dish similarly decorated with a scholar in a landscape, dated in accordance with 1595, sold in these rooms, 15th November 1983, lot 336; and a lobed dish illustrating Wang Xizhi, from the Lee Family Collection, illustrated in Anthology of Chinese Art. Ming Lacquer, vol. 5, Fuzhou, 1995, pl. 146. Further qiangjin and tianqi lacquer boxes of square form, but decorated with dragons, include one of slightly larger size, also dated to the year 1610, included in the exhibition East Asian Lacquer. The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1991, cat. no. 53; and another, dated to 1604, illustrated in Hu Shih-chang and Jane Wilkinson, History of the Chinese Lacquer Collection in the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1998, pl. 1908.
The wan diaper ground denotes the air, which is the feature seen in many late official Wanli 'tianqi' lacquer wares.
此盒蓋面以宋代理學宗祖「周敦頤愛蓮圖」為紋飾，他愛蓮之高潔，與書聖「王羲之愛鵝」、東晉文學家「陶淵明愛菊」、唐代詩人「孟浩然愛梅」組成了流行於元、明年間的「四愛圖」紋飾，描繪了古代名士悠然自得的風度與超凡脫俗的情操。一件以四愛圖為紋飾的萬曆青花梅瓶，見康蕊君《玫茵堂中國陶瓷》，倫敦，1994年，圖版725。
可比較一件紋飾相仿的戧金填漆盤，刻乙未干支年款於香港蘇富比1983年11月15日拍賣，編號336；李氏家族舊藏一件刻「王羲之愛蘭」圖棱式盤，見《中國漆器全集》，福州，1995年，卷5，圖版146；一件歐文伉儷舊藏戧金填漆，尺寸稍大的龍紋方盒，同樣刻庚戌款，曾展出於《East Asian Lacquer》，大都會藝術博物館，紐約，1991年，圖版53；另一件帶甲辰款，見胡世昌和 Jane Wilkinson，《History of the Chinese Lacquer Collection in the National Museum of Scotland》，愛丁堡，1998年，圖版1908。
盒面紋飾上方飾方格卍字為錦地，此為萬曆後期常用於填漆器物的裝飾手法。