Page 286 - Christie's Fine Chinese Paintings March 19 2019 Auction

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN
1789
A RARE AND FINELY PAINTED ENAMEL
TEAPOT AND COVER
QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER MARK IN
BLUE ENAMEL WITHIN A DOUBLE SQUARE
AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)
The body is fnely enameled on each side with a
large peony blossom encircled by a blossoming
and budding prunus branch. The neck, spout,
handle and foot are decorated with further prunus
blossoms. The cover is decorated en suite and
surmounted by a fnial painted with a fower head,
all reserved on a vibrant yellow ground.
5√ in. (15 cm.) wide
$120,000-180,000

Painted enamels were known as ‘foreign
enamels’. The technique was developed in Europe
in Flanders at the borders between Belgium,
France and the Netherlands. In the late ffteenth
century the town of Limoges, in west central
France, became the center for enamel production.
As the maritime trade fourished between East
and West, enamels were introduced to China via
the trading port Canton (Guangzhou). The Qing
court then set up Imperial ateliers to produce
enameled metal wares in the Kangxi period
(1662-1722). In the early period, due to insuficient
technical knowledge, only small vessels were
made, with a limited palette and murky colors. By
the late Kangxi period, a wider range of brighter
and purer colors became available, resulting in
clearer decoration and a higher level of technical
sophistication.

The present teapot is fnely painted with
two auspicious fowers; prunus, the fower of
winter, representing renewal, perseverance and
purity; and peony, the fower of spring, which is
indicative of wealth and honor. A painted enamel
bowl, dated to the Kangxi period and decorated
with similar prunus branches on a yellow ground
is illustrated by Michal Gillingham, Chinese
Painted Enamels, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford,
1978, p. 11, no. 1. A bowl and cover, also with
comparable prunus design on a yellow ground, is
illustrated p. 26, no. 24. A yellow-ground teapot
of square form, decorated with peony blooms and
with a Qianlong mark in red enamel and of the
period, is in the collection of the Palace Museum,
Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of
Treasures of the Palace Museum - 43 - Metal-
bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 206,
no. 197.

清乾隆 銅胎畫琺瑯牡丹紋茶壺
雙方框四字楷書款

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