Page 96 - Bonhams, Fine Chinese Art, London November 3, 2022

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A RARE CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL ‘DA JI’ DOUBLE GOURD VASE
Qianlong
Elegantly modelled with a large globular lower bulb with four stepped
cartouches containing the characters Ji, supporting a slightly smaller
upper bulb with a further four stepped cartouches containing the
characters da, rising to a waisted neck with a narrow mouth, entirely
decorated around the body in vibrant tones of yellow, blue, red and
white enamel with geometric diamond-patterns, the foot and central
waist with bands of floral scrolls, the mouth with pendant plantain
leaves.
28.7cm (11 1/4in) high.
£30,000 - 40,000
CNY240,000 - 310,000

清乾隆 銅胎掐絲琺瑯「大吉」葫蘆瓶

Provenance: Roger Keverne Ltd., London

Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: R.Keverne, Summer Exhibition,
2010, London, p.94, no.69.

來源：倫敦古董商Roger Keverne Ltd.

展覽著錄：R.Keverne著，《夏季展覽》，倫敦，2010年，頁94，
編號69

See an identical cloisonné enamel double gourd vase, Qianlong, likely
the pair to the present lot, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York, illustrated by B, Quette, Cloisonné: Chinese Enamels from the
Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, New York and Paris, p.274, no.99,
where the author notes that the geometric pattern is rare on cloisonné
enamel but more often found on piecework textiles ‘intended for use
in Tibetan Buddhist rituals, notably to cover cymbals or for placement
under ritual objects’. The pattern derives from Ming dynasty textiles;
see He Li and M.Knight, Power and Glory: Court Arts of China’s Ming
Dynasty, San Francisco, 2016, no.44.

The characters Da Ji express the wish for good fortune and are
frequently used to decorate vessels of double-gourd shape. The bottle
gourd itself is associated with the Eight Daoist Immortals, particularly
with Li Tieguai who used the gourd as a container for medicine. Daoist
fairies are also often depicted with double gourds from which fly five
red bats – representing the Five Blessings. Double gourds are also
symbolic of prosperity and abundance, and in particular, an abundance
of male children, which is further reinforced by the characters, da ji,
meaning ‘highly auspicious’, in enamel. As a specific rebus, because
they are born from leafy tendrils, the phrase for bottle gourds on a
Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York vine is huluman, while the combination of vines with tendrils reads as
mandai: these two phrases together suggest the rebus hulu wandai
‘May you have numerous descendants’.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
94 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.