Page 14 - 2019 Nov 28 Sir Quo-Wei Lee Collection Hong Kong

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A COPPER-RED ‘DRAGON’ TRILOBED VASE 清乾隆 釉裏紅雲龍紋三棱式橄欖瓶
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD

well-potted with a baluster body divided into three lobes,
rising to a waisted neck and everted rim of conforming
section, deftly painted in underglaze red with three five-
clawed dragons, writhing among clouds above crashing
waves, their eyes picked out in underglaze blue, the foot and
rim encircled by a double-fillet in underglaze blue
30.2 cm, 11⅞ in.
HK$ 50,000-70,000
US$ 6,400-9,000

Magnificent vases painted in copper red with dragons are 本品大氣，繪龍穿梭祥雲，翻騰江海之上，雙目炯炯，
extremely rare, as such vases are notoriously difficult to 五爪分張，威武雄健，恰應乾隆御宇天下，國力隆盛之
apply and fire with success. They bear testament to imperial 氣象。自清朝立國以來，代代皇帝皆重視景德鎮官窰生
patronage and technological advancement in porcelain
production during the Qianlong period. 產，推動瓷器工藝發展，是以精品佳器屢出，技藝時有
創新改良，釉裏紅器之完善即為一例。
Copper red required precise control of the firing temperature
and the atmosphere inside the kiln. The resulting tone of
the red was particularly important to the Qianlong Emperor, 釉裏紅燒製過程複雜，須準確控制窰爐火候及溫度，成
possibly due to the auspicious connotation of the colour. 品難得。經高溫還原焰所出的紅色，向為吉祥喜慶之
His demand for excellence is noted in a court record of 兆﹐甚得乾隆重視。乾隆對御瓷器素來精益求精，根據
1738, where he rated the colour of a copper-red meiping 清宮檔案載，乾隆三年（1738年），高宗指「釉裏紅龍
with dragon design as not good enough (Feng Xianming,
Annotated Collection of Historical Documents on Ancient 梅瓶，紅龍顏色不好，往好裏燒造」，見馮先銘，《中
Chinese Ceramics, Taipei, 2000, p. 232). 國古陶瓷文獻集釋》，台北，2000年，頁232。
Vases of complicated shapes rendered in this palette as
the present example are very rare. Compare a copper-red 如斯造型獨特之釉裏紅瓶例極為珍罕，參見一清乾隆
double-gourd vase, also decorated with dragons, sold in 雲龍紋葫蘆瓶，售於香港蘇富比2018年4月3日，編號
these rooms, 3rd April 2018, lot 3203. 3203。

12 SOTHEBY ’S CHINESE ART