Page 72 - 2020 December 1 Bonhams Hong Kong, Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of art

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A RARE AND LARGE IMPERIAL CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL
‘THREE RAMS’ VASE, ZUN
17th/18th century
The vase well cast of baluster form, supported on a tapered foot
rising to a waisted neck, set with stylised chilong flanges and three
ram heads on the shoulder, brightly and lavishly enamelled around
the exterior with archaistic and stylised taotie masks above a band
of florets and further band of cicada lappets reserved on a ground
of densely scrolling lotus, the shoulder with a wide band of striding,
stylised chilong beneath upright lappets enclosing further stylised
taotie masks, all reserved on a turquoise ground.
68cm (26 3/4in) high.

HKD2,500,000 - 3,500,000
US$320,000 - 450,000

十七/十八世紀 掐絲琺瑯仿古獸面紋出戟三陽開泰尊

Provenance:
A French private collection

來源：
法國私人收藏

The present physically and visually imposing zun vase is notable for its The ancient form of the vase, as well as the archaistic motifs of taotie
innovative form and represents the technical and artistic developments masks and chilong flanges and designs, also reflects the archaistic
revived during the early Qing dynasty. scholarly trends of the 17th/18th centuries. The academic trend
known as the ‘search for evidence’ (kaozheng 考證) movement
Compare a nearly identical cloisonné enamel vase of similar size began in the early 17th century. Although this movement originated
(67cm high) with flanges and similar ram heads and taotie-mask in a renewed scholarly interest in ancient texts and inscriptions on
design, early Qing dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection, and another archaic bronzes, as literati sought a more empirical approach to
closely related example of similar form and design but without ram understanding their ancient heritage, it led to a greater fascination for
heads, with the mark ‘Jingtai nian zhi’, early Qing dynasty, illustrated decorative designs adopted from ancient bronzes too. Responding to
in the Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Enamels 2 this wave of archaism which would later be adopted by the Imperial
Cloisonné in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Beijing, 2011, nos.15-16. court and Manchu emperors who wished to display their patronage
of Han Chinese culture, artisans reproduced the motifs and patterns
The present lot is laden with auspicious meaning. The sheep or goat, of ancient bronzes on their cloisonné enamel wares. Xiqing gujian
(yang 羊), appeared as early as the Han dynasty as a pun for xiang (Catalogue of the Xiqing Antiquities), provided abundant prototypes to
(祥), meaning ‘auspicious’ or ‘lucky’. By the Qing period, the image of the recreations of archaistic pieces.
sheep has become heavily associated with yang (陽), meaning the sun,
and the warm, positive or masculine force in Chinese cosmology. The The prototype of the present lot appears to be a drawing of an archaic
sheep imagery then developed into three sheep, sanyang (三羊), as a bronze zun, illustrated in the Imperial catalogue of Chinese ritual
reference to the favourable arrival of Spring, since the phrase sanyang bronzes known as the Xiqing gujian, Beijing, 1758, vol.10, p.35. This
kaitai (三陽開泰) refers to the period between the Winter solstice and type of large wine vessel zun with three animal heads on the shoulder,
the New Year. This is the period when the warm yang energy is said to and with stylised taotie masks on the body, was popular during the
emerge, as detailed in the ancient Chinese classic of cosmology, the mid and late Shang dynasty. For example, see an archaic bronze zun,
Yijing (The Book of Changes). mid Shang dynasty, in the Henan Provincial Museum, illustrated in
Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji (Complete Collection of Chinese Bronzes),
Beijing, 1996, pl. 114.

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