Page 94 - Imperial Sale Chinese Works of Art June 1 2016 HK

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTION 清乾隆 掐絲琺瑯饕餮紋文王鼎

3229 著錄
《至尊華貴—歐洲私人珍藏御製掐絲琺瑯器》，香港，
A MAGNIFICENT LARGE CLOISONNE ENAMEL 2013，圖版4號

CENSER AND COVER, FANGDING 此方鼎與清宮舊藏一件例子幾乎一致，著錄於2011年北京出
版故宫博物院藏品大系《琺瑯器編．3．清掐絲琺瑯》，圖版
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795) 226號（圖一）。

The tapering rectangular censer is decorated on each side with 「文王鼎」是三代青銅器的經典款式，明高濂在《遵生八
raised flanges separating a taotie mask below a band of separate 箋》評古銅器時說：「方者以飛龍腳文王鼎為上賞」。此器
stylised dragons against a leiwen ground. The body is supported on 正是仿文王鼎而作，上面的夔龍、饕餮紋甚至器形均來自文
blade-shaped legs decorated with archaistic scrollwork emerging 王鼎的原型。據清檔記載，乾隆在三年、十五年、四十年和
from gilt-bronze animal heads. The galleried rim is cast with 四十三年分別下旨製造掐絲琺瑯文王鼎，並親自審閱圖樣。
keyfret and surmounted by two upright loop handles, each 此外，地方官員進貢掐絲琺瑯文王鼎在檔案中也很常見，可
enamelled with a taotie mask above scrolling archaistic dragons. 見乾隆皇帝非常喜歡這種款式。
The tapering sides of the cover are cast with four openwork gilt
panels with bats amid swirling clouds, surrounded by archaistic
dragons. The cover is surmounted by a gilt finial in the form of a
recumbent lion with curly mane, placing one paw on a brocade
ball.
30 Ω in. (77.5 cm.) high

HK$4,000,000-6,000,000 US$520,000-780,000

LITERATURE

Reverence and Perfection: Magnificent Imperial Cloisonné Enamels from
a Private European Collection, Hong Kong, 2013, no. 4

This superbly cast and enamelled censer is almost identical to the
one in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in
Enamels - 3 - Cloisonne in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Compendium
of Collections in the Palace Museum, Beijing, 2011, pl. 226 (fig. 1).

The shape of this censer is based upon ancient bronze vessels. The
blade-shaped legs, loop handles and flanges, along with the wide
spreading taotie masks, all have their prototypes in Zhou dynasty
bronzes, many of which are illustrated in Xiqing gujian, ‘Inspection of
Antiques from the Zhou Dynasty’, the catalogues of ancient bronzes
in the Qing Court Collection compiled under the authorization of
the Qianlong emperor in 1755. Compare also to a Qianlong-marked
fangding with cover, also decorated with taotie design and with flat
dragon-form legs, is in the collection of the National Palace Museum,
illustrated in Enamel Ware in the Ming and Ch’ing Dynasties, Taipei,
1999, no. 59. Further examples from the Qing Court Collection
include two censers in the Palace Museum, one dated to the early
Qing period and with a gilt openwork cover and lion finial, the other
with a Qianlong six-character mark but without a cover, illustrated in
Enamels - 2 - Cloisonne in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Compendium
of Collections in the Palace Museum, Beijing, 2011, pls. 68 and 245.

Compare also to a Qianlong-marked example from the Mandel
Collection, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2012, lot 3908.

fig. 1 Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing
（圖一）北京故宮博物院藏品

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