Page 92 - Christie's Hong Kong Important Chinese Works Of Art May 30 2022

suggests that the flask had entered the collection of William Thompson
Walters by November 1883. It is significant that the current vase and
the Walters flask have several features in common: their superb quality,
their unusually large size (height: 52.7 cm for the vase and 49.1 cm
for the flask); the fact that their decoration is executed in the complex
doucai technique, and the fact that they both have a pair of, very
similar, writhing dragon handles at the neck. Dragons of this form
and coloration (but with the addition of green manes) also appear on a
Qianlong doucai lidded vase from the Qing Court Collection, now in
the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in Porcelains in Polychrome and
Contrasting colours, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
Museum, 38, Hong Kong, 1999, pp. 280-1, no. 256 (fig. 2).
Most importantly, there is an entry in the Qing palace records which
notes that on the 3rd day of the 11th month of the 36 year of Qianlong
th
(1771 AD) “a pair of Chenghua-kiln wucai chilong-handled tianqiu zun
was presented by Yilinge at the Yanxindian.”

At this time doucai wares were often referred to as Chenghua-kiln wucai,
since doucai decoration was so closely linked to the revered Chenghua
reign. During the reign of the Qianlong Emperor the Yangxindian
(Hall of Mental Cultivation) was one of the most important halls
within the Forbidden City, where the emperor conducted affairs
of state. Yilinge served as superintendent from the 33 to the 37 year
rd
th
of the Qianlong reign (1768-1772).
Professor Peter Lam has conducted detailed research into the form of
fig. 1 © The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore reign marks during the Qianlong reign, and the reign mark on the
圖一 華特斯博物館藏品 current vase accords most closely with the style that he denotes ‘type 6’,

1883年11月27日，美國藝廊曾致函韋夫人，信中開首說到：

「韋夫人惠鑒：踐前所諾，謹就本藝廊所知，提呈6月9日所購諸瓶之相關信息。此例彩繪大瓶燒造於乾隆年間(約公元
1736-50年)。巴爾的摩的華偉德先生(W. T. Walters)，素以其東方藝術藏品之精在國內享負盛名。華先生珍藏一件乾隆
瓶，依吾等所見，乃是唯一能與閣下購藏者媲美之作。該例為抱月瓶，同樣購自本藝廊。」

華威廉的抱月瓶(又名「寶月瓶」)現藏巴爾的摩的華特斯藝術博物館(登錄號49.1685，圖一)。根據該館網站的記錄(詳見
https://art.thewalters.org/detail/30829/pilgrim-bottle-with-the-character-shou-long-life/)，1898年之前，該瓶已納入華
偉德(William Thompson Walters，1820-94年)或其子華亨禮 (Henry Walters，1848-1931年) 之珍藏，後於1931年遺贈華
特斯藝術博物館。根據前述美國藝廊1883年出具的信函，此瓶應是1883年納入華氏珍藏。尤為重要的是，本拍品與華氏
抱月瓶有若干共通點：兩者皆工藝精湛、形體碩大(本拍品通高52.7公分，抱月瓶高49.1公分)，而且均飾以細膩精緻的
鬥彩紋，頸肩置大同小異的對稱龍耳。造型與色澤相同的螭耳，亦見於一例清宮舊藏乾隆鬥彩描金蓮蝠紋螭耳蓋瓶，
但其鬃毛為綠色，此瓶現藏北京故宮博物院，圖見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集38：五彩、鬥彩》頁280-1編號256
（圖二）。

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