Page 210 - Sotheby's Fine Chinese Art NYC September 2023

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PROPERTY FROM THE YOUSAIAN COLLECTION The present censer successfully conveys the luxuriousness
A RARE BEIJING ENAMEL YELLOW-GROUND and exoticism of the Western enameling technique via the
‘LOTUS’ TRIPOD CENSER familiarity of traditional Chinese lotus floral motifs. Related
examples of this type with Kangxi yuzhi marks include one
YUZHI MARK AND PERIOD OF KANGXI painted with large lotus blossoms amid scrolling leaves, in
the base with a four-character Kangxi yuzhi mark in blue the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Gugong
enamel within a double square, Japanese silver cover with falangqi xuancui / Masterpieces of Chinese Enamel Ware in
openwork diaper design, wood stand, Japanese wood boxes the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1971, pl. 37; and another
(7) painted with a lotus pond design, from the collection of
Width 4⅜ in., 11 cm Alfred Morrison, Fonthill House, Tisbury, Wiltshire, sold at
Christie’s London, 9th November 2004, lot 21. Compare also
PROVENANCE a Yongzheng example, painted with peach-shaped panels
Collection of Goto Family, a tea ceremony master, enclosing bats and double gourds, sold at Christie’s Hong
Kansai, 1930s. Kong, 3rd November 1998, lot 1050; and a black-ground
Gallery Yanai, Tokyo, early 2000s. Qianlong example from the collection of Stephen Junkunc III,
sold at Christie’s New York, 28th March 1996, lot 141.
The technique used for enameling on metal-bodied ware
was introduced in Guangzhou by Jesuit missionaries around ⊖ $ 30,000-40,000
1684, when the ban on overseas trade was lifted. Guangzhou
artisans with direct access to wares from Europe mastered
the technical skills of enamel painting earlier than those 清康熙 北京銅胎畫琺瑯黃地纏枝蓮紋
working in the Palace Workshop in Beijing. In the 58th year 三足爐 《康熙御製》款
of the Kangxi reign (1719), the French missionary and
enamel specialist, Jean-Baptiste Gravereau, also known 來源
as Chen Zhongxin, was sent to Beijing by the Viceroy of 關西茶道宗師收藏，後藤家族，約1930年代
Guangdong to teach enameling techniques to the craftsmen ギャラリー柳井，東京，2000年代初
working in the Palace Workshops (see the catalogue to
the exhibition Treasures from Guangdong to the Qing
Court, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong, 1987, p. 54). The Kangxi Emperor’s particular
fascination with Western enameled wares and his patronage
in establishing the production of such wares in the Imperial
Palace Workshop brought a new decorative art that came
to represent a harmonious blend of western technique and
Chinese workmanship.

416 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11275 417