A carved cinnabar-lacquered and turquoise-glazed 'longevity' porcelain bowl, Seal mark and period of Qianlong | 清乾隆 瓷胎剔紅「萬壽無疆」盌 《大清乾隆年製》款

Christie's Hong Kong, 3rd June 2015, lot 3153.

香港佳士得2015年6月3日，編號3153

This bowl, with a porcelain body covered with layers of cinnabar lacquer which were then meticulously carved in relief, is a rare specimen of an artistic collaboration of the imperial kiln in Jingdezhen and Zaobanchu (Imperial Manufacture Department) in the Forbidden City. 

This type of lacquered porcelain ware was produced since at least the Kangxi period. According to the Qing court archives, in the 4th year of the Yongzheng period (1726), a porcelain-bodied carved lacquer bowl was submitted to the Emperor. Impressed by the technique of combining the two materials, the Emperor ordered six lacquered porcelain bowls to be made, but without any intricate carving.

Probably due to its technical requirement and inherent fragility, lacquered porcelain ware appears to be very rare and only a handful of 18th century examples are recorded, including a rare Qianlong porcelain vase with carved cinnabar lacquer, included in Edward Fairbrother Strange, Chinese Lacquer, New York, 1926, pl. XXI. Compare also an early Qing dynasty tixi-decorated porcelain vase with an apocryphal Chenghua mark, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Lacquer Wares of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 2006, pl. 3.