Page 33 - Sotheby's Fine Chinese Art NYC September 2023

A WOMANLY BOND:
EMPRESS DOWAGER

CIXI’S PORCELAINS IN

THE LEVY COLLECTION

YING-CHEN PENG

兩位非凡女性的藝術靈犀：
LEVY 收藏慈禧太后御瓷

彭盈真

序言 INTRODUCTION

Levy收藏廣博而精深，收羅多件晚清宮廷 The Levy Collection is one of the most comprehensive private collections
瓷器珍品，其中更加引人入勝之處，是它代 encompassing important specimens of late Qing imperial porcelains.
表著收藏家Barbara Levy（1938-2021 年） This collection is even more intriguing because it is a woman collector’s
和慈禧太后（1835-1908年）——一位女性 endeavor of assembling works commissioned by another woman, a
收藏家與一位女性藝術贊助人之間超越時 womanly bond between the late Barbara Levy (1938-2021) and Empress
空的聯繫。慈禧是中國近代史上最有權勢 Dowager Cixi (1835-1908). Cixi was the most powerful woman and
的女性，也是最具爭議性的政治人物。她
掌權四十多年，同時也是晚清宮廷最重要 controversial political figure in recent Chinese history. Her regency
的藝術推動者。本收藏的瓷器色彩絢麗、 stretched over four decades, and she was the foremost patroness of late
紋飾精緻、編制恢宏，讓人想起她的顯赫 Qing court art, including porcelains. These porcelains’ dazzling colors,
權威。慈禧對時尚、審美和藝術的敏銳觸 delicate decorations, and ambitious scales are the materialization of this
覺並沒有被世人遺忘。慈禧逝世一個世紀 formidable woman’s persona. Cixi’s sensibility in fashion, beauty, and
後，她的御瓷成爲了Barbara Levy殷切收 refinement did not go unnoticed. It was appreciated by Levy a century after
藏的對象。本文概述晚清宮廷瓷器及Levy Cixi’s passing. This article will provide an overview of late Qing imperial
珍藏的亮點。
porcelain and the highlights of the Levy Collection.

晚清御瓷 LATE QING IMPERIAL PORCELAINS

學者和收藏家對18世紀清代宮廷瓷器推崇 When it comes to the imperial porcelains of the Qing dynasty, scholars and
備至，其中釉上彩瓷、復古器、以及創燒於 collectors celebrate eighteenth-century accomplishments, such as the
乾隆年代之轉心瓶等新穎款式尤受注目。 development of overglazed enamel wares, commonly known as falangcai
釉上彩瓷又有琺瑯彩或洋彩等名稱，視乎 or yangcai (depending on whether produced in the court workshops or
瓷器生產於宮廷作坊或景德鎮御窰。與此 the imperial kiln in Jingdezhen), the cultivation of antiquarianism, and
製瓷盛世相比之下，19世紀瓷器不免黯然
失色，質量及數量都不及前朝，這與乾隆 the invention of unique new specimens such as the famous rotating vase
年後御窰產量下降、以及太平天國十數年 that first appeared during the Qianlong period (1736-1795). Contrary to
動亂（1850-1864年）有關。無可否認，19 such fervent interest, the nineteenth century is a curious void because of
世紀清宮瓷器整體較之前遜色，但近期研 a general decline in quality and quantity, which is often connected with Imperial portrait of the Empress Dowager Cixi © The Palace Museum, Beijing
慈禧太后坐像 © 故宮博物院，北京
究卻發現了數組異常精美的晚清宮廷器， the waning production of the imperial kiln after the Qianlong period and
可與18世紀御瓷媲美，其中大部分是由道 the institution’s destruction during the decade-long Taiping Rebellion
光皇帝（1820-1850年在位）及慈禧太后旨 (1850-1864). While this impression of inferiority is undeniable, recent
令製作。
scholarship has unveiled several groups of highly sophisticated late
Qing imperial wares comparable to their exquisite eighteenth-century
predecessors, the majority of which were commissioned by the Daoguang
Emperor (r. 1820-1850) and Empress Dowager Cixi.