Page 150 - Bonhams FINE CHINESE ART London November 2 2021

Images courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing

Meticulously decorated with lanca characters and fully coated in Gold was considered one of the most auspicious metals, possessing
shimmering gold glaze, the present bowl is an exceedingly rare an opulence that catered to the extravagant taste afforded by only
example testifying to the Qing Imperial aesthetic taste and to the the wealthy and powerful. The process of applying gold on porcelain
technical virtuosity of the Imperial potters during the reign of the wares in the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen was documented by Pere
Qianlong Emperor. d’Entrecolles in a letter dated 1721, where he mentioned: ‘When one
wishes to apply gold, one grinds in and mixes it in the bottom of a
Other examples of gold-glazed vessels dating to the Qianlong reign porcelain vessel until a little cloud of gold appears in the bottom of the
include an archaistic gu vase, impressed Qianlong seal mark and of water. One allows it to dry and then uses it by mixing it in a sufficient
the period, and a stem cup, second half of the 18th century, illustrated amount of gummed water. With thirty parts of gold, one incorporates
in A Millennium of Monochromes. From the Great Tang to the High three parts of white lead, and then one applies it to the porcelain,
Qing. The Baur and the Zhuyuetang Collections, Geneva, 2019, p.330- just like a coloured glaze’; see Yu Pei-chin, De Jia Qu: Qianlong
331. See also a gold-glazed ‘Wheel of Transmigration’, Qianlong six- Huangdi de Taoci pinwei 得佳趣—乾隆皇帝的陶瓷品味 (Obtaining
character mark and of the period, in the Zhejiang Museum, Hangzhou, Refined Enjoyment: The Qianlong Emperor’s Taste in Ceramics),
illustrated in Treasures of Imperial Porcelain, Beijing, 2011, pp.96-97. Taipei, 2012, pp.129-130. The gilding process described in the letter
is also accurately described in the Nanyao biji, a treatise compiled
Its unique shape and designs were likely inspired by a metal or wood during the Qianlong period, stating: ‘Gilding process nowadays...
prototype used in Tibet, probably a ritual bowl also known as a ‘sound recipes for gilding and silvery tracery painting: mix ten parts of gold
bell’. Following the Qianlong Emperor’s strong interest in Tibetan (one qian), with one part of lead powder (one fen)’. After the gold layer
Buddhism, gifts and tributes were often exchanged between the Qing was applied to the vessel, a low firing was necessary to fix it; see A
Court and the Tibetan hierarchy; see J.Hevia, ‘Lamas, Emperors, Millennium of Monochromes. From the Great Tang to the High Qing.
and Rituals: Political Implications in Qing Imperial Ceremonies’, in The Baur and the Zhuyuetang Collections, Geneva, 2019, pp.165-166.
Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, vol.16,
no.2, 1993, pp.243-278. New shapes and design elements thus
entered the general repertoire of Chinese Imperial porcelain wares, and
Chinese and Tibetan artists often worked side by side in the Imperial
Workshops to create unique Tibeto-Chinese styles.

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