Page 86 - Important Chinese Art Sothebys March 2019

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propertY From the WILLIam BoYCe thompson CoLLeCtIon In both form and design, these ritual vases are steeped in
A PAIR OF FAMILLE-ROSE GREEN-GROUND tibetan Buddhist practice yet also represent the opulent
TIBETAN-STYLE VASES, BUMPA sino-tibetan aesthetic developed to suit the taste of the
Qing emperors.
JIAQING SEAL MARKS AND PERIOD
the form is modeled after tibetan metal prototypes known
each with a spherical body supported on a tall splayed foot as bumpa. During rituals these vessels were used to hold
and surmounted by a conical fluted domed neck, the body sacred flowers or peacock feathers as they are believed to
exuberantly painted with the ‘eight Buddhist emblems’ have the power to cleanse the heart of practitioners from
interspersed with scrolling lotus blossoms against a bright evil. an emblem of amitayus, these vases were also used
lime-green ground, above bands of upright lappets encircling during longevity rituals whereby the vase was filled with
the lower body and foot, and below a border of pendent pink water that could be consecrated and transformed into an
ruyi at the shoulder, the neck enameled with vertical bands ‘elixir of immortality’ by practitioners who evoked the deity’s
of color below a pink-ground border of floral scrolls at the name. Bronze bumpa often appear on contemporaneous
rim, all divided by gilt borders, the base enameled turquoise paintings and thangka where they are covered in colorful
with a six-character seal mark in ironred, both vases missing brocaded cloths, which may have inspired the luxurious
their original disc-shaped mouths (2) bajixiang (‘eight Buddhist emblems’) and lotus scroll design
height 8 in., 20.5 cm on this vase.

PROVENANCE
Collection of Grand Duke nicholas, petrograd, 1917.
Collection of William Boyce thompson (1869-1930), and
thence by descent.

84 SOTHEBY’S Important ChInese art