Page 66 - Jie Rui Tang Kangxi porcelain mar 2018

330 A QUADRANGULAR ⌲Ꮴ⛆ ρᒖ⊛䰂̶ᭌృ㾖᪴᫦⨣
FAMILLE-VERTE
‘THREE STAR GODS’
VASE

Qing Dynasty, Kangxi Period
ҳ⎽
of square section, the tapered rectangular This vase is richly decorated with applied and 〳腋ⴀ荈 William Hesketh Lever 痧♧➿ⵄ䒼⠅
sides supported on a spreading foot and rising painted details. The principal subject is the 㨗㶩昽 1851 1925 佐询
to a canted shoulder and ! aring neck with a ‘Three Star Gods’ (sanxing), Fu, Lu, and Shou, William Hulme Lever 痧✳➿ⵄ䒼⠅㨗㶩昽
galleried rim, each side with a molded deity and the legendary archer Houyi, who each 1888 1949 佐询ꏗ倴1949䎃幢㋲管贫
and boy holding various attributes under high receive their own side of the vase, a youthful T034
relief rockwork issuing pine, prunus, and peach companion, and a propitious poetic inscription. Philip William Bryce Lever 痧♲➿ⵄ䒼⠅㨗㼤
branches, the scenes painted with further The " gures each bear auspicious meaning, 㶩昽KG TD 1915 2000 佐询Thornton
foliage, wisps of clouds, and poetic couplets, with the Star Gods respectively connoting Manor㪮⹗晋랿銯飓䗞龾
all between borders of scrolling peony and happiness, wealth, and longevity. Houyi ⧍侚豤㺢嫲2001䎃6剢26荛28傈管贫106
lotus against a speckled ground, the neck signi" es immortality as this was his reward for Marchant⧍侚2001䎃
applied each side with a pair of ‘antique’ shooting down nine of the ten suns thereby
vessels molded in high relief, set between regulating the climate and allowing the earth
ܧ❵
green ground bands of keyfret, the recessed to thrive. The ‘Precious Objects’ around the Je# rey P StamenCynthia Volk ⿻⧋❠俛
base and foot unglazed, wire-inlaid weighted vase’s neck and ! oral scrolls further contribute
շ俒ꅷ⼾搭 : 悦誩㛔询䐁擳渿⚆櫙ո䋒ス
wood stand (2), coll. no. 343. to the positive messaging.
饟2017䎃㕬晝81
Height 24¾ in., 62.8 cm The vase demonstrates the technical
achievements of Kangxi potters. The shape
PROVENANCE and weight of the vase presented considerable
Probably from the Collection of William challenges to the potter, who inventively
Hesketh Lever (1851-1925), 1st Viscount applied hidden struts to the rim and interior
Leverhulme. to uphold the ambitious vessel. The " gures
Collection of William Hulme Lever (1888-1949), and branches, too, are well-formed in
2nd Viscount Leverhulme, and recorded in the unprecedentedly high relief with some features
1949 inventory as T034. modeled fully in the round for naturalistic
Collection of Philip William Bryce Lever (1915- e# ect. Each scene is enlivened with masterfully
2000), Honourable 3rd Viscount Leverhulme, applied overglaze enamels and gilt accents.
KG TD, Thornton Manor, Wirral, Merseyside.
Kangxi period vases with appliques of
Sotheby’s London, 26th-28th June 2001, lot
immortals or antiques were made in both
106.
quadrangular and round forms. A rouleau
Marchant, London, 2001.
vase with the ‘Hundred Antiques’ applied
from the Qing Court Collection, now in the
LITERATURE
Palace Museum, is illustrated in The Complete
Je# rey P. Stamen and Cynthia Volk with Yibin
Collection of Treasures from the Palace
Ni, A Culture Revealed: Kangxi-era Chinese
Museum: Porcelains in Polychrome and
Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection,
Contrasting Colors, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 143.
Bruges, 2017, pl. 81.
Two ovoid vases with applied decorations of
$ 60,000-80,000 the ‘Three Star Gods’ and the ‘Eight Daoist
Immortals’, respectively, are in the collection
of the Victoria and Albert Museum (coll. nos C.
1255-1910 and C. 1257-1910). A square-section
vase with the subject matter and style of the
present example in the Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Taft Collection is illustrated in John Getz, A
Catalogue of Chinese Porcelains collected
by Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Taft, Cincinnati,
Ohio, New York, 1904, cat. no. 69. A second
example from the collection of Frederick J. and
Antoinette H. Van Slyke sold in these rooms,
31st May 1989, lot 106, and again at Christie’s
New York, 29th March 2006, lot 482. A closely
related example featuring the Hehe Erxian with
the ‘Three Star Gods’, from the collection of
Allen J. Mercher and the J.T. Tai & Company,
sold in these rooms, 22nd March 2011, lot 107.

64 SOTHEBY’S