Page 40 - 2019 September 9th Bonhams Important Chinese Works of Art

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT NEW YORK CITY
COLLECTION

840
AN EXTREMELY RARE BRONZE RITUAL VESSEL AND COVER, The form of this vessel is based on one from the Zhou dynasty. In the
XING Zhouli (Rights of Zhou) it is recorded that the vessel used for serving
Yongzheng, cyclically dated to the Gengxu year corresponding to geng (thick broth) is called a xing. The cover of this vessel when
1730 and of the period removed and inverted can be used to present the broth during rituals.
Finely cast, the deep bowl-shaped body supported on three lappet-
form feet, with a foliate scroll band incorporating the date and reign When the Manchus established the Qing dynasty and took control of
mark below the lip reading Da Qing Yongzheng gengxu nian zhi, China, they also adopted the Chinese practice of making offerings to
above a key fret band and wide honeycomb diaper band, interrupted their ancestors, a tradition that had been established during the Zhou
by opposing dragon handles, the top of the domed cover cast with dynasty. The Qing court therefore had ceremonial vessels made to
flower-head with overlapping petals radiating leafy vines, surrounded resemble the Zhou prototypes in order to give the foreign Manchus a
by three upright lappets echoing the feet of the vessel and bands of veneer of legitimacy and to create a sense of continuity.
wan diaper, key fret and foliate scrolls, the exterior surfaces with a rich
dark brown patina, the interior a rich orange-gold color. Xing were used in pairs, and because of the relatively short twelve-year
Yongzheng reign, examples of the period are extremely rare. More
10 1/8in (25.6cm) high common are Qianlong period examples, such as the Qianlong mark
and period example which was sold at Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New
$30,000 - 50,000 York, 20 June 1978, lot 171; and another which was sold at Christie’s
Hong Kong, 31 May 2017, lot 3019. A Qianlong mark and period
xing without its cover was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 2 October
清雍正 銅錦紋龍耳三足蓋鉶 《大清雍正庚戌年造》款
2017, lot 209, and a Qianlong mark and period xing cover was sold at
Christie’s New York, 16 September 2016, lot 1225.
Provenance:
Sotheby’s New York, 26-27 February 1981, lot 277 A Qianlong period ‘moon white’ glazed porcelain example in the
collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing is illustrated by Evelyn S.
來源：
紐約蘇富比，1981年2月26-27日，拍品編號277 Rawski and Jessica Rawson (eds.), China: The Three Emperors 1662-
1795, London, 2005, p. 125, no. 36.

A bronze ritual wine vessel, jue of the same date as the current lot and
with a similar mark and patina was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 3
December 2015, lot 30. It is possible these two vessels once formed
part of the same ritual set.

38 | BONHAMS