Page 40 - Three Qianlong Rarities Christies Hong Kong May 2018

fig. 1 Illustration in Xiqing Xujian – 1st Supplement
圖一 《西清續鑑》插圖

With the technical advances and virtuosity of porcelain There appears to be only one other identical example, in
production during the Qianlong period, potters from the the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in Gu Taoci Ziliao
official kilns were able to experiment with different methods Xuazncui, juan 2, Beijing, 2005, p. 253, no. 223 (fig. 2). Other
and techniques to satisfy the emperor’s penchant for the closely-related examples are known such as the large celadon
curious and archaic. Although the idea of porcelain imitating vase from the W.T. Walters Collection, decorated with the
other materials was pioneered by the potters of the late same moulded bands and loop handles, illustrated by S.
Kangxi and Yongzheng periods, it was during the Qianlong Bushell, Oriental Ceramic Art, 1896, fig. 13. Another smaller
reign that this technique reached its zenith, and the present vase with moulded archaistic phoenix handles and moulded
pair of vases is no exception. From its decorative style the kui dragons on a green-enamelled ground is illustrated in
vases largely took their inspiration from vessels that were Kangxi Yongzheng Qianlong, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 394, no. 75
produced in repoussé metalwork, although the stylised kui (fig. 3). Two other comparable vases of this moulded design
dragons and cicada motifs are in imitation of those on early but enamelled in turquoise are known; both of these are of
bronzes, such as those collected in the Imperial palace hu-shape and decorated with moulded Shou characters.
by Emperor Qianlong. A line drawing of a closely related The first, a gift from the Beijing Palace Museum given to the
hu-shaped bronze vessel, dating to the Han dynasty, was Yunnan Provincial Museum is illustrated in Art & Collection,
published in the Xiqing Xujian, ‘Inspection of Antiques-1st 2003:2, p. 63, no. 125; and the other was sold at Christie’s
Supplement’ (fig. 1). This publication was a compilation of New York, 23 March 2012, lot 2112.
early period bronzes collected in the imperial palace, and
appeared in its woodblock form in 1755 and published under
the auspices of the Siku Quanshu, ‘The Imperial Manuscript
Library’.

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