Page 54 - important chinese art mar 22 2018

LITERATI SENSIBILITY :

A RARE PAIR OF VASES
ATTRUBUTED TO TANG YING

This elegant pair of vases belongs to an exclusive The Danshi tie inscribed on one vase can be translated as
group of vessels bearing the Taocheng Tang (Hall of follows:
Accomplished Learning) seal, which is widely considered
Recently, the capital (Nanjing) has been fairly calm and
to be a seal of Tang Ying (1682-1756), China’s most
peaceful, this time when you return from your duty, you
famous Superintendent of the imperial kilns. Under Tang
should have the qualities to be promoted to the military
Ying’s supervision, the late Yongzheng (r. 1723-35) and
general of the state. Heng Gong (the military o# cial who
early Qianlong (r. 1736-95) periods boasted the $ nest of
spent nearly three decades defending the Shu state) was
porcelain production, when the expectations of a piece
delighted to hear about you after reading my letter and wish
of porcelain were set to the highest level. Credited with
to see you successfully complete further duties. Xie Wu
some of the greatest porcelain technical developments
Yi and I have been communicating through letters and he
and innovative designs in China’s history, Tang Ying’s
is doing $ ne. After his brother (Xie Ren Zu) passed away,
genius was usually reserved for the imperial courts and
I recently visited his home and it is di# cult to express my
pieces marked with his seal are relatively rare. Porcelains
sadness from my heart.
bearing this seal are characterized by a $ neness of potting
and painting, similar to that made for the imperial court, The Qingyan tie on the second vase can be translated as
but lacking reign marks. These vessels may have been follows:
produced for the personal enjoyment of Tang Ying himself,
Knowing that the Shu State is a rather peaceful region,
or as a gift to friends. Unrestrained by the requirements and have great harvests for many years in succession
of the emperor and his court, Tang Ying unleashed his
producing crops that no other places can grow, along
personal aesthetic on such wares, which reveal the literati with its name well-known since the ancient times and its
sensibility of a deep reverence for famous paintings and
magni$ cent landscape, how can I not pay a visit?
calligraphy of China’s celebrated history.
Two vases also belonging to this group, both decorated
Perhaps most striking about these vases is the with a deer under a large pine tree, the reverse of one
craftsman’s treatment of the surface as a scroll. Vases
similarly inscribed with an extract from the Shiqi tie and
of this select group are characterized by their simple other from Sun Guoting’s Shupu, both with the same seals
shouldered form and design of a pictorial scene on one
as the present vases, were sold at Christie’s new York,
side and inscription on the other. The form provides an 19th-20th September 2013, lot 1313; and another depicting
understated elegant surface for the charming scene of
two magpies perched on a blossoming plum tree, the
a crane under a blossoming peony tree. This auspicious reverse inscribed in cursive script with a poem, together
motif is rendered in a naturalistic manner similar to that
with the Taocheng Tang seal and a seal reading Wu Pei zhi
found in court paintings, with varying shades of cobalt blue (made by Wu Pei), was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th
capturing the various di" erent textures of the rocks, plants
October 2013, lot 3186. See also a smaller vase of similar
and feathers. Furthermore, the notoriously temperamental form, decorated in underglaze blue and red with $ ve deer
copper red has been brought under the masterful control
standing under a tall pine tree, but lacking an inscription
of Tang Ying, which has been expertly applied and $ red to and seals, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 23th May 1971,
retain the depth and brilliance of color.
lot 1261.
The masterfully executed excerpts are lifted from Wang
Further vessels bearing the Taocheng Tang seal include a
Xizhi’s (303-361 AD) Shiqi tie, a collection of letters written vase of related form but with rounded shoulder, decorated
to his friend, Zhou Fu, who served as a Prefect in Yizhou,
with a peony branch and inscription in clerical script on
yearning for a glimpse of the breath-taking sceneries of the reverse, as well as a seal reading Wu Fu (Hall of Wu),
the Shu state. The Shiqi tie is named after its $ rst two
in the Qing Court Collection and still in Beijing, published
characters, which denotes the date, and each letter is in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
named after its $ rst few characters. Its high esteem saw
Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed
the entire text reproduced into stone steles and the ink Red (III) Shanghai, 2000, pl. 196 ( g. 1); and a brushpot
rubbings were widely distributed. Wang’s calligraphy
inscribed with Sun Guoting’s Shupu as well as a seal
throughout the letters has been acclaimed as the supreme reading Dianhu dugong, with a Qianlong reign mark and
model of cursive script. The end note and two seals that
of the period, in the National Museum of China, Beijing,
follow the inscription on these vases indicate that an illustrated in Zhongguo Guojia Bowuguan Guancang
o* cial, Wu Yue, was responsible for the calligraphy on
Wenwu Yanjiu Congshu [Studies on the collections of the
these vases. National Museum of China], Ciqi juan [Porcelain section]:
Qingdai [Qing dynasty], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 86 ( g. 2). A
celadon-glazed garlic-mouth vase with a two-character
Taocheng mark to the base was sold at Christie’s London,
12th November 2002, lot 64.
52 SOTHEBY’S