Page 35 - 2019 October Qing Imperial Porcelain Sotheby's Hong Kong

The Qianlong Emperor had an insatiable predilection for Although the Qing court records suggest that over 50 such
novelty and innovation and was rigorous in the standards he vases were commissioned, there are very few extant examples,
upheld, prompting his craftsmen to search for and realise of which most are applied with boys clambering on top and
ever new designs that enabled them to showcase their fired on footrings, unlike the current vase, which was fired on
technical proficiency. Polychrome ceramics with lifelike spurs. Compare a Qianlong yangcai floral vase, inscribed with a
qualities, as demonstrated by the current work, were seen six-character underglaze-blue seal mark to the base, from the
in the repertoire of Chinese ceramics from earlier reigns, Qing court collection in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included
but it was not until the Qianlong period that the level of in China. The Three Emperors, Royal Academy of Arts, London,
craftsmanship reached its pinnacle and saw remarkably 2005-2006, cat. no. 301, and illustrated in The All Complete
dynamic three-dimensionality in the production of works Qianlong: The Aesthetic Tastes of the Qing Emperor Gaozong,
of art. The current piece is an exceptional example of such Taipei, 2013, cat. no. II-3.30. Modelled with a trefoil rim and
technical advancement, and this is demonstrated not only in foot, the vase is further applied with three boys similar in size
its form but also in the colour scheme and choice of motifs, to those supporting the current vase. One boy is rendered
all thoughtfully incorporated to form an outstanding work clambering atop the shoulder of the vessel, another tying a knot
undoubtedly held in high esteem by both the Emperor and to a ribbon around the neck whilst the third holds one end over
craftsman alike. his shoulder.
Meticulously conceived and rendered, the well-proportioned Compare also other Qianlong yangcai vases decorated with
lime-ground vase is flanked by a pair of archaistic handles differing numbers of boys, including a turquoise-ground lantern
and ornately decorated with impeccable lotus blooms vase decorated on the exterior with seven boys, from the
and other floral motifs in the yangcai palette. The vase is collection of M.D. Ezekiel, illustrated in R.L. Hobson, The Later
supported on three applied figures of boys, each portrayed Ceramic Wares of China, London, 1925, pl. IX, fig. 2, and later
with a round, cherubic face below hair tied into twin-knots, sold at Christie’s London, 18th March 1930, lot 73, Christie’s
but clad in different coloured clothing picked out with New York, 12th December 1977, lot 211 and again in these
different motifs. All are raised on a gilt-decorated iron-red rooms, 28th/29th November 1978, lot 318. Compare also
trompe l’oeil lacquer-imitation stand with a gilt-inscribed another vase, decorated with five boys, inscribed with an iron-
six-character seal mark on the base. There is no doubt that red six-character seal mark, sold at Christie’s London, 10th May
the current work, steeped in extraordinary craftsmanship 2016, lot 78.
and innovative artistic ambitions, ranks amongst the finest The three half-kneeling boys, upon which the vase rests, are
trompe l’oeil pieces of the Qianlong period.
marked with such strength and unity that they evoke the
Vases decorated with boys, such as the current example, anthropomorphic feet of the Warring States period bronze
were used by the Qianlong Emperor as gifts and tributes vessels, as well as the guardian figures of the Tang dynasty.
for officials and gentry. This is reflected in the Qing court The structure and proportion of the vessel, with applied motifs
records in the 4th and 7th months of the 20th year of the in between the vessel and the stand, are also notably similar
Qianlong reign (in accordance with 1755). These records to those of contemporaneous ‘three ram’ zun vases, such as
reveal that the Emperor decreed that, under the supervision one decorated with a Jun-type glaze, illustrated in Grand View:
of Tang Ying, 50 vases decorated with three or five boys Special Exhibition of Ju Ware from the Northern Sung Dynasty,
were to be produced so as to be sent to Jehol and gifted to Taipei, 2007, cat. no. 15.
people (The First Historical Archives of China, the Chinese It is rare to find an incurved rim as found on the current vase in
University of Hong Kong, eds, Qinggong neiwufu zaobanchu the Qianlong period. See a pink-ground famille-rose ‘butterfly’
dang’an zonghui [General collection of archival records from vase from the collection of the Ping Y. Tai Foundation, modelled
the Qing imperial household department workshop], Beijing, with a comparable incurved rim, sold at Christie’s London, 18th
2005, vol. 21, pp. 470-471).
October 1971 from the Fonthill heirlooms, lot 65, and again at
By virtue of the technical difficulties in their production, Christie’s Hong Kong, 3rd December 2008, lot 2388.
ceramic vessels with appliqué designs are very rare.

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