Page 102 - CHRISTIE'S Marchant Nine Decades of Chinese Art 09/14/17

MARCHANT: NINE DECADES IN CHINESE ART

ease in boats on the water. As well as depictions of Su Shi’s (蘇軾 1037-1101) 高翔 (公元1688–1754年) 為楊州八怪之一，其《平山堂
famous Ode to the Red Cliffs (赤壁賦), other scenes apparently showing visits 八景冊》也有三幅具河上泛舟的元素。
to famous waterside sites were often depicted. Wu Li’s (吳歷 1632-1718)
Boating on the River below a Buddhist Temple, in the collection of the National 漁樂或泛舟題材長盛不衰，背後有諸多原因。一方面，
Palace Museum, Taipei, for example, shows a group of gentlemen apparently 在政治動蕩或外族統治之際，這類題材可避重就輕地抒
engaged in such an enterprise. The Buddhist monk painter Shitao (石 濤 發作者內心的憤懣。另一方面，漁夫正是自在逍遙、反
1642-1707), who as Zhu Ruoji (朱若極) was born a member of the Ming 璞歸真的象徵。推而廣之，文人若能遠離朝廷之爭，像
imperial clan, included a scholar sitting in a boat reading in his handscroll 舟子般粗茶淡飯，自能細品歲月靜好。這種心態也與道
Landscape with Hermits, now in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing. 家清靜無為之說不謀而合。晚明士大夫李日華
While among the album leaves Eight Scenes of Yangzhou by another of the (公元1565–1635年) 公元1625年乙丑初秋作《溪山入夢
so-called ‘eccentric’ (怪 guai) painters of Yangzhou, Gao Xiang (高翔 1688- 圖卷》題識中，抒發的正是這種文人情懷：
1754), there are three which include boats on the river.
「釣罷輕舸且蕩煙，遠山遮盡近留尖。不須更怯
The popularity of the fshing/boating themes had several sources. On one 笭箵雨，江樹低梢好繫船。草樹生云石噴泉， 空
hand, they could subtly convey messages of dissent at a time of political 濛灑落草堂邊。秋來常作匡廬夢，卻道前身是樂
uncertainty or when a foreign dynasty ruled China. Fishermen could also 天。」
be seen as living their lives in a simple way that was close to nature. A
corollary of this was the idea that the literati themselves could achieve perfect 英譯本請見李鑄晉與屈志仁 (James C. Y. Watt) 合編《中
tranquillity if they too led a simple life as fshermen on the river, rather than 國書齋：晚明文人的藝術生活》頁43 (紐約：1987)，圖
being embroiled in the affairs of state. This feeling also refected the Daoist 見作品編號3。
wish for retreat and solitude. One view of the literati in regard to this subject
is well illustrated by the late Ming scholar-offcial Li Rihua (李日華) (1565- 文人士大夫閒來也有品酒、賭錢、聽曲，甚或有美相
1635) in the inscription appended to his handscroll Rivers and Mountains in My 伴，這些世俗消遣間或在船上進行，本罐就此也略有描
Dream, dated to early autumn 1625, which may be translated as: 寫。

‘After fshing, the light boat foats in the mist, 結合漁夫或泛舟題材的絹本或紙本畫多不勝數，但這類
The distant mountains, all covered, seem to be at the tip of my fute. 場景甚少出現於十八世紀的粉彩瓷器。紐約大都會藝
There is no need to be afraid of the scattered rain. 術博物館藏一例公元1730年的溪山漁樂圖雍正盤，圖見
The trees by the river, with their branches stretching out, are good for tying the boats. 余春明所著《中國名片：明清外銷瓷探源與收藏》頁
Clouds arrive from the trees and shrubs, and water fows from the rocks 195圖版293 (北京：2011)。此外，大都會珍藏 (登錄號
Shatteringly in mist by the edge of the thatched hut. 79.2.670，1879年購自Samuel Putnam Avery珍藏) 及大維
With the coming of autumn, I take this as the dream of Mt. Kuanlu, 德爵士珍藏 (登錄號PDF 862) 中尚有二例大同小異的胭
And say that my previous incarnation was Bai Letian [Juyi]. 脂紅地瓷盤，兩者均以杭州西湖的漁舟入畫。至於以此
為題的粉彩大罐，本拍品在已發表作品中應屬孤品。
(translated in The Chinese Scholar’s Studio – Artistic Life in the Late Ming
Period, (Chu-Tsing Li and James C. Y. Watt eds.), New York, 1987, p. 43, 此罐器型敦碩且畫工精細，加上題材罕見，細節生動逼
handscroll illustrated as exhibit no. 3) 真，誠然是同類型大器中的稀世之作，中國買家固然
趨之若鶩，想必也是歐洲宮廷和宅邸主人爭相羅致的對
Boats on the water also played a part in the more worldly activities of the 象。
scholar-gentry in their leisure time – drinking, gaming, listening to music, or
enjoying the company of beautiful women – which is refected, in a minor 蘇玫瑰
way, on the current jar. 國際亞洲藝術部學術總監

Despite the plethora of paintings on silk or paper bearing scenes of fshermen
or boating activities, such scenes are relatively rare on 18th century famille
rose porcelains. A Yongzheng dish, dated to 1730, in the collection of The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York is decorated with a river scene with
fshing boats, and is illustrated by Yu Chunming (余春明) in Zhongguo ming
pian: Ming Qing wai xiao ci tan yuan yu shou cang (中国名片: 明清外销瓷探
源与收藏), Beijing, 2011, p. 195, pl. 293. Two almost identical ruby-backed
dishes, one in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
(accession no. 79.2.670, acquired from the collection of Samuel Putnam
Avery in 1879) and one in the collection of Sir Percival David (accession
no. PDF 862) are decorated with a scene of fshing boats on West Lake in
Hangzhou. However, no other large famille rose jar with this decorative theme
appears to have been published.

The massive size and extraordinarily fne painting, as well as the rare subject
matter painted in such a lively style, makes this lidded jar a very rare example
of the type of monumental vessel, which was not only appreciated in China,
but was much sought-after by the owners of palaces and stately homes
in Europe.

Rosemary Scott
Senior Academic Consultant Asian Art

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