Page 112 - Sotheby's October 3 2017 Chinese Art

Qing Gaozong yuzhi shiwen quanji [Anthology of imperial Qianlong poems and proses], Yuzhi shi wu ji [Imperial poems,
vol. 5], juan 30, p. 26.

《清高宗御製詩文全集．御製詩五集》，卷30，頁26

The imperial poem on the present vessel, titled Museums in Beijing and Taipei. See a Liangzhu
Yong Han yu wangtou ping (‘In praise of the culture jade cong with a taller cloisonné enamel
jade vessel in the shape of a wheel frame from liner, both inscribed with the same imperial poem,
the Han dynasty’) dated to the guimao year of preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei
the Qianlong reign (corresponding to 1783), is and included in the Museum’s exhibition The
included in the Qing Gaozong yuzhi shiwen quan ji Enchanting Splendor of Vases and Planters: A
[Anthology of imperial Qianlong poems], Yuzhi shi Special Exhibition of Flower Vessels from the Ming
wu ji [imperial poems, vol. 5], juan 30, p. 26. The and Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 2002, cat. no. II-07;
vessel mentioned in the poem probably referred and another jade cong with a similar cloisonné
to Neolithic ritual jade cong with rectangular enamel liner bearing a different poem, exhibited
sides and a cylindrical shaft, originated from in The Life of the Emperor Qianlong, The Macao
the Liangzhu culture, which flourished in Museum of Art, Macau, 2002, cat. no. 61. See
southeastern China in the third millennium BC. also a related cloisonné vessel inscribed with
However, the original functions and significance yet another poem, sold in these rooms, 4th April
of these jade cong were long forgotten through 2012, lot 3194.
the ages. Many of these jade cong were later lined
with cylindrical metal vessels to be used as vases. The trigram is one of the bagua (Eight Trigrams)
used in ancient times for divination. The Qianlong
During the Qianlong reign, liners with imperial Emperor was fond of symbols with archaic
poems, such as the present piece, were produced connotation and often used the combination of
by the Imperial Palace Workshop (Zaobanchu) this trigram, which is called qian, with dragons
and several examples are preserved in the Palace (long) as a homophone of his reign name.

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