Page 112 - Sothebys Fine Chinese Art London, November 2018

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IMPERIAL CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART FROM
THE DETRING/VON HANNEKEN COLLECTION
AN EXTREMELY RARE BLUE
AND WHITE DOUBLE-GOURD
‘DRAGON’ VASE
JIAQING SEAL MARK AND
PERIOD
the upper bulb of slightly compressed globular
form rising to a circular mouth, the large lower
bulb of globular form and separated by a curved
waist, finely painted in meticulous detail with a
five-clawed dragon shown in full-frontal position
encircling a ‘flaming pearl’, flanked by a further
eight dragons amidst flames and swirling clouds
and above turbulent rolling waves around the
foot, their undulating scaly bodies prancing
around the sides and captured in various poses, Interior view of Gustav Detring’s home, Tianjin, circa 1890
all below a ruyi band at the mouth rim, the base 德璀琳故居舊景，天津，1890年代
inscribed with the six-character seal mark in
underglaze-blue
30.3 cm, 12 in.
PROVENANCE
Collection of Gustav Detring (1842-1913) and
thence by descent.
£ 200,000-300,000
HK$ 2,030,000-3,040,000
US$ 259,000-388,000

清嘉慶 青花雲龍戯珠紋葫蘆瓶
《大清嘉慶年製》款
來源
德璀琳(1842-1913)收藏, 此後家族傳承
Magnificently painted with nine dragons leaping example see two blue and white vases in the
through clouds above crashing waves, this vase National Palace Museum, Taipei, one with a
boasts the formidable power of the Qing Empire. long cylindrical neck, included in the Museum’s
In its dynamic composition and skilfully painted exhibition Lord Jiaqing and the Journey to Taiwan:
design, it belongs to the early years of the Jiaqing A Special Exhibition on Cultural Artifacts of the
Emperor’s reign, when the imperial kilns at Qing Emperor Renzong, 2016, cat. no. III-36, and
Jingdezhen were still heavily influenced by the a globular example, published in the Illustrated
imperial patronage of the preceding Qianlong Catalogue of Ch’ing Dynasty Porcelain in the
period. The vivacity of the cobalt blue, superbly National Palace Museum, vol. 2, Tokyo, 1981, pl.
rendered dragons and the impeccably finished 93; and another one sold in these rooms, 2nd
Mark
body emphasise both the craftsmanship of May 1995, lot 86.
the time and the splendour of the period. In its Double-gourd vases painted with front and side
complex design, it also epitomises the importance facing dragons in copper-red from the Qianlong
of manipulating negative space in the overall period may have served as the inspiration for
composition to achieve balance and harmony.
the present vase. See a closely related Qianlong
Jiaqing vases of this type are rare and only two example sold in these rooms rooms, 20th June
closely related examples appear to be known, both 2001, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 9th
sold in our Hong Kong rooms, one, 11th April 2008, October 2007, lot 1216; and another from the
lot 2831, and the other, 31st October 1974, lot 199. collection of T. Y. Chao, included in the exhibition
Ming and Ch’ing Porcelain from the Collection
Vases decorated with a central frontal dragon of the T. Y. Chao Family Foundation, Hong Kong
in pursuit of a flaming pearl, and surrounded
by secondary dragons, appear to have been a Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1978, cat. no. 781,
popular motif during the Jiaqing reign, appearing and sold three times in our Hong Kong rooms,
on a variety of pieces of various shapes; for 17th November 1975, lot 222, 18th November
1986, lot 71, and 3rd April 2018, lot 3203.

110 SOTHEBY’S