Page 106 - 2019 September 11th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art

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A RARE FAMILLE-ROSE ‘TRIBUTE BEARERS’ more frequently enameled on metal. See a pair of famille-
DOUBLE GOURD VASE rose incense holders depicting a continuous scene of foreign
QIANLONG SEAL MARK AND PERIOD tribute bearers, with Qianlong four-character seal marks,
sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 5th April 2017, lot 3108. For an
the globular lower bulb surmounted by a smaller ovoid-form ovoid famille-rose vase painted with a similar scene, with a
upper bulb rising to a slender neck, finely enameled allover blue-enameled mark, see one exhibited in Special Exhibition
with foreign tribute bearers scattered in a mountainous of Ch’ing Dynasty Enamelled Porcelains of the Imperial
landscape scene with fabulous beasts, including one Ateliers, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1992, cat. no. 141.
seated on a white elephant, another holding a sleeve vase See also a brushpot with a continuous scene of Europeans
containing peacock feathers and a branch of coral, one on a horse-drawn carriage, the base with a blue-enameled
riding a Buddhist lion whilst holding a model of a pagoda, mark, formerly in the collection of A.W. Bahr and Paul and
and another atop a qilin with a basin of ‘flaming pearls’ Helen Bernat, sold twice in our Hong Kong rooms, 15th
beside a figure presenting another pearl to him, surrounded November 1988, lot 36, and 9th October 2007, lot 1213.
by craggy, delicately outlined rockwork and twisting trees, Compare a plaque enameled in a similar manner and with a
the reverse with the foreigners’ boat docked near the shore related scene, attributed to the Jiaqing period, and formerly
by a rippling lake, the inner rim and recessed base glazed
turquoise, the latter with a six-character seal mark in iron red in the YC Chen Collection, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong,
29th May 2013, lot 1957. A pair of large Jiaqing mark and
Height 12⅞ in., 32.5 cm
period vases, each enameled with a procession of foreign
Exuberantly and finely enameled, the present vase is very tribute bearers, sold at Christie’s London, 15th May 2012,
rare for its combination of form and subject matter. The lot 318. A further Jiaqing mark and period turquoise-ground
theme of foreign tribute bearers was especially favored jardinière enclosing vignettes of foreign tribute bearers sold
at court in the 18th and early 19th century. Recognizable in our Hong Kong rooms, 7th October 2010, lot 2161. See
by their curly red hair, tall noses, and clothing, the also a plaque molded in low-relief with processions of foreign
foreigners carry precious objects and are accompanied by tribute bearers, also attributed to the Jiaqing period, sold at
extraordinary beasts such as a Buddhist lion, wolf, bixie, Christie’s New York, 30th May 1991, lot 371.
piebald horse, white elephant, dog, qilin, and tiger. Such a
vase would have conveyed numerous auspicious blessings The subject of foreign tribute bearers is also depicted in
a number of Qing court paintings, such as Envoys from
and affirmed the Qing empire’s cosmopolitan power and Vassal States and Foreign Countries Presenting Tribute to
influence.
the Emperor in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing,
The design on the present vase can also be associated with illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the
‘European subject’ porcelain wares of the period, which Palace Museum: Qing Court Paintings, #14, Hong Kong, 1996,
stemmed from the Qianlong Emperor’s penchant for curious pl. 64. For a Ming dynasty vase with the same theme, see
and exotic objects. As Michel Beurdeley and Guy Raindre a 16th century underglaze-blue double gourd vase, sold at
note in Qing Porcelain: Famille Verte, Famille Rose, London, Christie’s London, 14th May 2013, lot 199.
1987, p. 124, to entertain the Emperor and his princes,
‘Chinese ceramic artists found it amusing to incorporate $ 60,000-80,000
figures depicted in the ‘European manner’ in their designs’.
It is rare to find foreigners painted on porcelain, as they were
清乾隆 粉彩八蠻進寶圖葫蘆瓶
《大清乾隆年製》款

104 SOTHEBY’S IMPORTANT CHINESE ART