Page 86 - Christies May 2016

(marks)

64

A RARE PAIR OF CLAIR DE LUNE TRIPOD VESSELS, XING
QIANLONG MOULDED SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARKS AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

The body of each vessel is decorated with a wide geometric band, below a foliate border and a band of

key-fret surrounding the mouth rim, supported on three leaf-shaped feet. The pair of handles are modelled

in the form of qilin.

8¬ in. (22 cm.) wide across handles, later wood covers and jade fnials (2)

£40,000-60,000 $57,000-84,000
€51,000-76,000

Xing vessels are soup containers that were used in ritual ceremonies. In the frst month of each season,
the Qianlong Emperor would perform the shi xiang sacrifces and ofer food to the ancestors. Altars
representing Heaven, Earth, Sun and Moon used vessels of diferent colours, and the pale blue glaze
was used at the Altar of the Moon. The present vessels share the same form and decoration to a pair of
xing with covers in the Palace Museum in Beijing. These are covered in a white glaze rather than a claire-
de-lune glaze, and were exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, 12 November 2005 - 17 April
2006, China: The Three Emperors 1662-1795, illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 125, no. 36. Also see another
white-glazed xing in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, illustrated in Emperor Ch’ien-lung’s Grand
Cultural Enterprise, Taipei, 2002, p. 172.

清乾隆 天藍釉瓷鉶一對 六字篆書款

瓷鉶，是祭祀中用來盛裝湯餚的器皿，形式見於《皇朝禮器圖式》。參考北
京故宮博物院藏一對形製相同的白釉瓷鉶，並於2005年11月12 日至2006年4
月17日間在倫敦皇家藝術學院之「康乾盛世」展覽中展出，圖錄125頁，圖
版第36號。另，台北故宮中亦藏一對白釉瓷鉶，見2002年出版的《乾隆皇帝
的文化大業》，第172頁。

84