Page 108 - Important Chinese Art Sothebys March 2019

AN IMPERIAL GIFT
A RARE GUANGXU CUP

While at first glance, the opulence and some Yuan dynasty and later blue and white or the Qing dynasty, coincides with the recipient’s
complexity of this vessel hits the eye, on closer underglaze-red porcelains. appointment as secretary of Defence and
examination its harmony is apparent. It stands Filigree metal work was imported into China assistant Grand secretary and with the
out by its superb craftsmanship, the use of during the tang dynasty (618-907). Its use of momentous event of his sixtieth birthday.
several metal working techniques, its costly thin gold or silver threads of different weights the recipient, ronglu, a prominent manchu
materials and its exceptional design; it was was populamized during the ming dynasty political and military figure in the late Qing
most likely crafted in an Imperial workshop (1368-1644) and reached a peak in production dynasty (1644-1901), had won the empress
as an imperial gift. no other vessel with this during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). the Dowager Cixi’s trust by securing the army in her
precious decoration appears to be recorded.
delicate technique required extremely skilled favor. positioned in high office, he had played a
the use of yellow gold with white silver and craftsmanship and high costs, as the gold or crucial role on both a national and international
red gems in a particularly striking three- silver needed to be heated and beaten into level, especially at the time of the Boxer
color scheme, expressing both richness and wire-filigree artworks. rebellion. Grateful for his unwavering support,
originality. the plain silver ground highlights the one of the most interesting features of this Cixi had honored him with her permission of
gilt shou medallions and elaborately decorated remarkable cup is the unusual pairing of ‘lian’ his daughter’s marriage with prince Chun.
gold borders and handles with filigree and and ‘sheng’ (‘promoted after having been through this alliance, ronglu became part of
inlay, in a pleasing contrast. the floral lappets, tested’ or ‘bestowed upon your promotion’) the imperial family and grandfather of puyi, the
carefully organized on either side of the characters found on its base. according to last emperor of the Qing dynasty.
roundels, can be compared to those found on
Chinese etymologists, the character ‘lian’ in although the present cup does not have any
combination with ‘sheng’, is a substitute for the published counterparts, nor can it be linked to a
rare character ‘lian’ meaning ‘put to the test’ particular person, some of its features may be
(Hanyu da cidian, shanghai, 1997, vol. 1, p. 1975 compared to other precious metalwork in the
under ‘lian’ ). It is important to note that the left Imperial Court Collection. Its distinctive handles
stroke 丿is missing in the ‘lian’ character on the with stylized shou characters approach in their
base of the cup. this particularly unorthodox concept those of a gold cup with ‘wanshou
way of writing makes the mark exclusive. wujiang’ (‘boundless longevity’) characters on
lingzhi sprays and embellished with pearls on
the only other vessel showing such characters
appears to be a gold double-gourd unearthed the top. It is described as a winecup used by
the emperor during birthday celebrations and
from the tomb of ronglu (1836-1903) and illustrated in Gongting zhenbao / Treasures of
now in the Beijing Capital museum, illustrated
in Jin yin qi juan / Gold and Silver Wares, Imperial Court. Gugong Bowuyuan zang wenwu
Beijing, 2004, pls 298-300 (fig. 1). the base is zhenpin quanji / The Complete Collection of
Treasures of the Palace Museum, hong Kong,
inscribed with four characters ‘lian sheng zu jin’ 2004, pl. 216.
(‘pure gold, bestowed on your promotion’). It
further carries an inscription ‘Bestowed upon the present piece may also compare to another
her subject ronglu by the empress Dowager, gold cup, described as a sacrificial vessel, of
on the Double ninth of the year bingshen’ identical shape, with kuilong handles, a similar
(1896). the ‘lian sheng zu jin’ and the ‘lian keyfret border at the rim and sitting on a base
sheng’ inscriptions are closely connected of large floral petals, illustrated in ibid., pl. 221.
due to the alternate writing of ‘lian’. their stylistically and historically interesting in
etymological relationship suggests that they relation to the present Guangxu vessel, is a
would have been made in the same context, small teacup showing the same shou roundels,
which therefore associates both with empress but in combination with ‘xi’ (‘double happiness’)
Dowager Cixi (1836-1908).
characters, above a similar band of keyfret
the double-gourd inscription sets the object in and floral lappets at the foot. It is datable by
its historical context by naming the recipient inscription to the eleventh year of the tongzhi
and the date of bestowal. the year 1896, right period (1872), the year of the emperor’s
in the middle of the last tumultuous decade of wedding. the cup was ‘sold to the Bank of
Fig. 1 a Qing dynasty Guangxu period gold double-gourd,
in the collection of the Capital museum
© 2003 Capital museum, Beijing
圖一 清光緒 金葫蘆 首都博物館
©首都博物館 北京
106 SOTHEBY’S Important ChInese art