Page 20 - Nov 28 Chinese Art Hong Kong

Rolf Cunliffe began collecting Chinese art when he was a Royal
Air Force pilot stationed in London towards the end of World
War II. Over the next 20 years, he acquired over one thousand
Chinese ceramics, jades and bronzes. At his flat near Grosvenor
Square, London, he had to build special storage units for his
collection in the bathroom. As his son, the 3rd Baron Cunliffe
remembers, ‘visiting collectors like the King of Sweden would
spend happy hours sitting on the edge of the bath discussing
the finer points of a jade rhyton or a Junyao bowl.’

Rolf Cunliffe勳爵為英格蘭東南部薩里郡Baron Cunliffe 第二
代，二戰前曾擔任英國皇家空軍飛行員。二戰後的二十年中，
開始收藏中國陶瓷器，古代青銅器、玉器、鼻煙壺，是最具影
響力的中國藝術品收藏家之一。他酷愛中國藝術，甚至把藏品
放在位於倫敦格羅夫納廣場家裡浴室的保險櫃中。其子第三代
勳爵曾回憶：「記得當瑞士國王來拜訪時，他和我父親兩人在
浴室裡為討論一件玉杯或鈞窯洗可以坐上整整幾個小時。」

Rolf, Lord Cunliffe (1899 - 1963)

6
A RARE IMPERIALLY-INSCRIBED PALE GREEN AND RUSSET
JADE ‘THREE RAMS’ PLAQUE
The jade Ming Dynasty, the inscription dated to renchen year of the
Qianlong reign corresponding to 1772
The front carved in varying levels of relief with a scene of two reclining
rams resting on a rocky ledge next to a standing ram looking up at a
gnarled branch of pine issuing from a craggy cliff, the reverse skilfully
inscribed with the poem Kai Tai Shuo in regular script and two seals
Tai and Pu, the greyish green stone with russet inclusions, box.
6.3cm (2 1/2in) wide (2).

HK$800,000 - 1,200,000
US$100,000 - 150,000

明 青玉雕三陽開泰御題詩擺件
御題詩乾隆壬辰年（1772）

Provenance:
Rolf, 2nd Baron Cunliffe (1899-1963), Honorary Keeper of the
Far Eastern Collections at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge,
and Lady Cunliffe, and thence by descent
Sold in our London Rooms, 8 November 2012, lot 140

來源：
劍橋大學菲茨威廉博物館榮譽館長Cunliffe勳爵（1899-1963）
及Cunliffe夫人舊藏，後由家族繼承
倫敦邦瀚斯，2012年11月8日，拍品編號140

18 | BONHAMS