Page 91 - Chinese Works of Art Chritie's Mar. 22-23 2018

Antique elegAnce (古雅)

An excePtionAl qiAnlong celAdon vASe

Rosemary Scott, Senior International Academic Consultant

his exquisite vase with its beautiful profle, delicate glaze and crisply items he added to the imperial collection – indeed he has been described
T defned archaistic decoration represents the highest achievements as having an ‘omnivorous fondness’ for collecting art. The Qianlong
in monochrome porcelains made for the court of the Qianlong Emperor. Emperor collected material in a wide range of media, including bronzes
Although relatively rare among Qianlong porcelains, this vase has a and ceramics. The extent of his collecting, as well as his keenness
particularly elegant and well-balanced form with its high, splayed, foot, to study the pieces in his collection can be seen from the catalogues
globular body and long slender neck faring gradually to the mouth. A produced during his reign and under his auspices. Following the lead of
smaller Qianlong vase, of slightly less attenuated proportions, bearing the great Northern Song antiquarian, Emperor Huizong (r. AD 1101-25),
a fne glaze imitating Song dynasty Ru ware is illustrated in Shimmering Qianlong commissioned the publication of catalogues of his collections,
Colours – Monochromes of the Yuan to Qing Periods – The Zhuyuetang with woodblock printed illustrations, including the Shiqu baoji (石渠寶笈
Collection, Hong Kong, 2005, p. 167, no. 96. It is probably no coincidence Shiqu catalogue of the imperial collections, AD 1793); Midian zhulin (秘殿
that the Zhuyuetang vase, like the current vessel, was inspired by revered 珠林 Court collection of treasures, AD 1793), the Tianlu linlang (天祿琳瑯
artefacts from a previous age. Tianlu collection of masterpieces, AD 1775), and the Xiqing gujian (西清古
鑑 Xiqing mirror of antiquities). The latter, which was compiled between
In the case of the current vase ancient bronzes provided the inspiration 1749 and 1755, ran to 40 volumes and detailed some 1,529 ritual bronzes
for its design, and it is worth noting that bronzes have long been of in the Qianlong Emperor’s collection. A supplement to these volumes
considerable importance in the Chinese imperial collections. In the early entitled Xiqing xujian (西清續鑑), which catalogued an additional 1,875
period these collections primarily served religious and political purposes. bronzes, and included some 900 stored at the Shenyang Palace, was
The treasures in the palace served to legitimise the rule of the emperor published in 1793. In addition to these printed catalogues, from AD 1755
and confrmed that he had the Mandate of Heaven. There is a famous The Qianlong Emperor commissioned hand-painted catalogues of both
passage in the pre-2nd century BC Zhanguoce (戰國策 Strategies of the ceramics and bronzes in his collection. Pages from the album Fanjin zuoze
Warring States), in which a minister advises his sovereign: ‘When you (笵金作則), which comprises paintings of ancient bronzes in the imperial
have taken possession of the Nine Brazen Tripods and put your hands on collection, accompanied by descriptions, are illustrated in Obtaining
the charts and registers, and when you have the emperor as hostage to Refned Enjoyment – The Qianlong Emperor’s Taste in Ceramics, Taipei,
rule the empire, nobody in the world will dare not to obey you.’ (quoted 2012, pp. 263-265. These catalogues are a testament to the Qianlong
by L. Ledderose in ‘Some Observations on the Imperial Art Collection Emperor’s abiding passion for antique bronzes, and his determination to
in China’, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramics Society, Vol. 43, 1978-9, document his collection.
p. 34). The bronze tripods had supposedly been cast by the mythical
Emperor Yu and passed down from dynasty to dynasty until the rulers of This interest in bronzes informed some of the shapes and decoration of
the Zhou dynasty lost them. The charts and registers derived from the the porcelains commissioned by him during his reign, a number of which
famous Chart of the Yellow River (河圖 Hetu). The Chart was believed were made in bronze form and/or with decoration inspired by that of
to have been given to the mythical Emperor Yao by a divine dragon who ancient cast bronze vessels. The current vase is a particularly fne example
rose out of the waters of the Yellow River. The possession of ancient of an imperial porcelain vessel bearing decoration which originated on
objects was thus tied to the ability to rule. archaic bronzes. The quality of the moulding on the current vase is
second to none, and is a remarkably accurate adaptation of the complex
Like his father and grandfather – the Yongzheng and Kangxi Emperors, cast decoration seen on bronze ritual vessels of the Eastern Zhou dynasty
respectively – the Qianlong Emperor was an ardent antiquarian, and it may - 6th-5th century BC. Similar decoration can be seen on a bronze ritual
reasonably be said that he was the greatest of all the imperial collectors bell in the Arthur M. Sackler Collection (illustrated in Art from Ritual –
of art and antiques. He was unsurpassed in the number and range of Ancient Chinese Bronze Vessels from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections,

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