Page 81 - Sothebys HK Dragon Emperor April 2024

QIANLONG’S IMPERIAL PORTRAIT ALBUM*

NIE CHONGZHENG

This album is the work of the Emperor and his artists. The Qianlong Emperor undoubtedly favoured this small and
Contrary to the norm, Qianlong’s postscript of his exquisite album which was made for his enjoyment and was
appreciation and the paintings were completed around the possibly placed on his desk. The seals prove that he enjoyed
same time. Unfolding in the form of a tent, the front cover this album even in his later years.
is made of wood incised with the four characters Jian gu xi With the exception of Ding Guanpeng’s painted figures, all
zhen [Ancient treasures reflecting the past] and Qianlong’s other paintings by the three officials portray landscape and
imperial seal impressions on the following pages. This album flowers. Ding’s subject matter is from the ‘Books and Fans
is the work of European and Chinese painters. The third page of Wang Xizhi’. Each painter has displayed his talent to his
contains the Emperor’s portrait and the two characters Lang utmost ability and the paintings are extremely refined and
zhao (‘Perfect brilliance’) written in the Emperor’s hand. The exquisite.
portrait painting is extremely fine, giving an acute sense of
the Emperor’s feelings. It is painted in the European style There are 32 additional seals impressed above the court
and is possibly the work of Italian missionary artist Lang paintings, the transcription of each is written beside the
Shining (Giuseppe Castiglione, 1688-1766) who served in the seals. All these seals have been collected by the Qianlong
Palace, while all other paintings in the album are the work of Emperor. However the seals are likely to be fake. From
Chinese painters. Lang Shining often painted portraits for this we can see the gaps in the Emperor’s knowledge and
the Emperor; similar ones can be found in the Yuzhi shi wen ji connoisseurship of archaic seals. The court painters and
[Anthology of imperial poems and text]. officials were probably aware of this but in order to flatter the
Emperor they joined him in his praise.
The following four pages contain seals above small refined
paintings. The artists of these paintings are court painters As the album is not dated we can only guess the date of
and official artists of varying social status and positions: its making through information obtained from the artists
Dong Bangda (1699-1769), Zou Yigui (1686-1772), Qian involved. It is known that Dong Bangda died in the 34th year
Weicheng (1720-1772), who were all important officials of Qianlong’s reign (1769), and Zou Yigui and Qian Weicheng
during Qianlong’s reign and Ding Guanpeng (fl. 1738-1768), both died in the 37th year of Qianlong’s reign (1772). The
a court painter who worked in the Ruyiguan (court studio) in death of Ding Guanpeng is not documented, but there are no
the Neiwufu (imperial household department). records of his activity after 1770. Lang Shining died in 1766
and his portrait of the Emperor is possibly the last painting to
The last page contains the Emperor’s postscript and scripts be added in the album. Hence this album was probably made
written by Jiang Pu, Wang Youdun, Qiu Yuexiu, Jin Deying, in the first half of Qianlong’s reign which is also evident from
Dong Bangda, Wang Jihua, Qian Weicheng and others. The the Emperor’s youthful facial features.
last page contains the seal impression ‘Taishang Huangdi zhi
bao’ (Treasure of the Emperor Emeritus).
The signatures are extraordinary and rarely seen on palace
paintings of the Qing period. All the painters’ signatures
contain only the given name, without the surname, such as
“Bangda”, “Yigui”, “Weicheng”, and “Guanpeng”. We may
even say that this is the only example found so far. The
postscripts on the last page were possibly written during a
gathering of the Emperor and his artists. It appears that the
rules of rites and the boundary between the Emperor and his
subjects were not so strictly observed.

* originally published in Imperial Peking. The Last Days, Sotheby’s, Hong Kong, 2007, pp. 48-49.