Page 100 - Important Chinese Art, Sotheby's London May 15 2019

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A RARE CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER BOAT- Revealing the Qianlong Emperor’s taste for opulence and his
SHAPED INCENSE BOX passion for unusual playthings, this exquisite lacquer model
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD of a boat is remarkable for its intricate carving and playful
moveable elements. Made in the form of an imperial boat,
carved in the form of a large elaborate boat, the curved this piece required great technical skill, with components
bough carved on each side with four ‘Buddhist Emblems’, made separately before being pieced together. The skill of
together comprising the bajixiang, admist lotus flowers the carver is particularly evident in the making of the pierced
and dense lotus scroll, the flat upper section mounted with doors, which are set between two parallel grooves and slide
two sections, one in the form of a room with sixteen doors open to reveal the interior.
skilfully carved in openwork treatment with fretwork-design,
a double door on each side able to slide open, the back Lacquer boxes in the shape of boats are unusual, although
room of curved form following the shape of the boat, with a a very similar example, but with a roofed structure at the
higher ceiling, a tall post fitted near the top with a guard post front, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Gugong
decorated with shou characters, and a gilt-bronze dragon Bowuyuan cang diao qi [Carved lacquer in the collection of
headed ‘pin’, carved wood stand the Palace Museum], Beijing, 1985, pl. 362. See also a boat
(7) with an upper deck but no openwork sliding doors or mast, in
53.5 cm., 21 in. the collection of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Hangzhou,
illustrated in Yang Zhishui, ‘Qi he de zaoxing, wenshi yu
PROVENANCE shiyong’ [The shape, décor and use of lacquer boxes], Wang
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 27th April 2003, lot 289. Chunfa ed., Zhongguo Guojia Bowuguan guancang wenwu
yanjiu congshu. Za xiang juan [Studies of the collections of
£ 40,000-60,000 the National Museum of China. Miscellaneous], Shanghai,
HK$ 411,000-620,000 US$ 52,500-79,000 2018, pl. 19-2; a larger pair of boats sold in our New York
rooms, 19th September 2001, lot 43; and another, carved
清乾隆 剔紅畫舫形香盒 with multiple drawers, sold in these rooms, 19th December
1980, lot 242.
來源
香港蘇富比2003年4月27日，編號289 The form of this boat recalls the magnificent touring boats
used by the Qianlong Emperor during his inspection tours of
southern China. The scroll painting The Qianlong Emperor’s
Southern Inspection Tour in the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York, painted by the court artist Xu Yang (active ca.
1750- after 1776) and dated in accordance with 1770, depicts
the Emperor arriving in Suzhou on such a boat, see the Muse-
um’s website, accession no. 1988.350a–d.

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es). Refer to the Buying at Auction and VAT sections at the back of this catalogue for further information.