Page 18 - Christie's, THREE IMPERIAL TREASURES Chinese Porcelain May 30 to June 1, 2023 Hong Kong

fig. 3 Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing fig. 4 Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei

圖三 北京故宮博物院藏品 圖四 國立故宮博物院藏品

The current vase makes use of the ‘enclosed layer’ and ‘reticulated design’ adding a touch of animation for the viewer. The Qianlong emperor paid
techniques; the outer layer of the lower body is pierced with a lime green- great attention to festivities and ceremonies, and many objects of the period
enamelled lattice ground surrounding four brown-glazed panels with are decorated with the theme of Duanwu festival. The falangcai gallbladder
auspicious 卍 symbols in the center. There is a revolving vase (fig. 5) in the vase painted with dragon boats (fig. 6) in the Taipei Palace Museum is
Tokyo National Museum which is not only similar in form to the current one such example. Revolving vases were often used as decorations during
vase, the pierced lattice decoration around the body and the brown-glazed important festivals or given as gifts, and it is very probable that the current
panels are also comparable – albeit the panels are pierced with a cash motif. vase, with its auspicious 卍 symbols and dragon boat decorations, was made
The interior of the Tokyo vase is painted in underglaze blue with bats as a tribute for the Duanwu festival.
amidst clouds. The presence of cash (qian ; also ‘in front’) and bats (fu; also
‘fortune’) make up the rebus fu zai yan qian – fortune right in front. In the Records of Zaobanchu, it is recorded that on the 12th day of the 5th
month in 1753, the Qianlong emperor commissioned the imperial kilns
The inner layer of the current vase is decorated in polychrome enamels in Jiangxi to make a ‘revolving vase decorated with dragon boats and
with a dragon boat race, where the viewers are gathered on the riverbank summersault performers’. We have not yet located a vase that corresponds
or in buildings. As the vase rotates, the dragon boats appear to advance, re- to this description, there are no summersault performers on the current
enacting a heated race. The paddlers are painted in a variety of active poses, vase, but we could imagine what it might look like. The vase described

玲瓏兩種技法，下段器腹外層以冬青色鏤雕錦地紋，並有四組褐彩描金 趣味。乾隆皇帝素來重視節慶儀式，器物上也可看見以端午節為裝飾的
開光，中心雕飾有寓意吉祥的卍字紋。東京國立博物館收藏的一件〈粉 主題，臺北故宮的〈琺瑯彩龍舟膽瓶〉即為一例（圖六 ，見《十全乾隆：
彩透雕雙耳瓶〉（圖五），本拍品除與其造型相似，器腹的鏤空錦地紋 清高宗的藝術品味》，國立故宮博物院，2013 年，頁232-233）。而轉心
鏤雕也極為近似，但其開光的中心為銅錢紋樣，內瓶以青花繪上蝙蝠祥 瓶常作為年節陳設或禮物之用，本拍品器腹中央的萬字紋有吉祥的寓
雲紋，而錢幣與蝙蝠的紋飾組合有「福在眼前」之意（參見《特別展吉祥: 意，加之內瓶的龍舟圖，極大可能為端陽節的貢物。
中國美術にこめられた意味》，東京國立博物館，1998 年，頁283）。回看
本拍品的內膽瓶腹，則彩繪上龍舟競渡的繪畫，觀賽的人群聚集在河岸 在《活計檔》乾隆十八年五月十二日，曾有乾隆皇帝下旨江西燒造「鬪
邊或樓臺裡，原本靜止的龍舟，隨著內瓶的轉動，似乎可以看見龍舟正 龍舟打斛斗人轉旋瓶一件」的記載，此瓶至今未有留存的實物，而本拍
在划動的熱鬧景況，龍舟上各人動作形態各異，增添了如臨現場的觀賞 品也沒有表演翻跟斗的人物，但可以想見類似作品的樣貌，不過據學界

18 THE IMPERIAL PALETTE THREE QIANLONG TREASURES