Page 18 - Sotheby's YAMANAK Vase Oct. 3, 2018

fig. 5
Illustration of lot 3001 in Yamanaka & Co. catalogue, New York, 1905

In 1743, Tang Ying submitted a memorial to the Qianlong
Emperor recording his presentation to the court of a total
of nine jiazeng linglong (‘layered openwork’) and jiao tai
(‘interlocking’) vases of innovative design (Liao Pao Show
[Liao Baoxiu], Huali cai ci: Qianlong yangcai/Stunning
Decorative Porcelains from the Ch’ien-lung Reign, National
Palace Museum, Taipei, 2008, pp. 27f.). He states that he did
not dare to create larger numbers, since they are so expensive
to make; yet he would later, if accepted, make them in pairs.
The Emperor replied that he ought to make pairs for those
that stand alone, but that indeed he should keep numbers low
and only to submit them for special occasions. This sequential
production of pairs may explain why the present vase and its
pair, are differently marked.
fig. 6 The pair to this vase, today in a private collection, was offered
Description of lot 3001 in Yamanaka & Co. catalogue, New York, 1905 at Bainbridge’s auction house, Ruislip, Middlesex, 11th
November 2010, lot 800, and made international headlines

16 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比