Page 248 - March 17 2017 Chinese Art NYC, Christies

The evocative depictions of deer in rocky, tree-strewn landscapes were
probably intended to represent deer in the imperial gardens and hunting
parks. Indeed, one of the reasons for the popularity of deer in Chinese art is
associated with a favourite imperial pastime - the creation of gardens and
hunting parks, which were frequently stocked with deer. Even the last rulers
of both the early Bronze Age dynasties of Xia and Shang are traditionally
believed to have expended considerable sums from the treasury on the
construction of gardens and parks. The frst Qin dynasty emperor, Qin
Shihuangdi (221-207 BC), is credited with the initial design for the Shanglin
Park to the west and south-west of the capital Chang’an (modern Xi’an),
and the Upper Grove Park near his palace was used partly as a leisure park
and partly as a hunting park. The Han dynasty Emperor Wudi (140-87 BC)
expanded this park and had artifcial lakes created within it. Some of the
pools were specially dug for the deer, which were among the animals and
plants brought to the imperial park from all over China (see N. Titley and F.
Wood, Oriental Gardens, British Library, London, 1991, p. 72). The second Sui
dynasty emperor (AD 598-618) ordered the construction of a similar park
outside his capital at Luoyang, into which he too brought deer. The Northern
Song emperor Huizong (AD 1101-26) was another enthusiastic builder of
gardens, and the imperial garden at Kaifeng contained many diferent types
of deer among its varied animal inhabitants. The Southern Song emperors
also enjoyed gardens at their capital at Hangzhou, and Marco Polo’s Travels
mentions a large park on the shores of West Lake containing many types
of deer. Thus deer became well established in Chinese imperial gardens for
their visual attractiveness and interesting variations, as well as to provide
sport for imperial hunting parties.

The theme of ‘hundred deer’ was adopted on porcelains in the middle
Ming period, and can be seen on a Wanli (AD 1573-1620) wucai jar in the
Musée Guimet, Paris (illustrated in The World’s Great Collections - Oriental
Ceramics Vol. 7 - Musée Guimet, Paris, Kodansha, Tokyo, 1981, no. 26) and
on the pair of large blue and white Wanli jars given to Queen Christina of
Sweden by the Portuguese Ambassador (see The World’s Great Collections
- Oriental Ceramics Vol. 8 - Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm,
Kodansha, Tokyo, 1982, fg. 247). The theme became even more popular
under the Manchus of the Qing dynasty, who were proud of their heritage
and encouraged equestrian and hunting skills. The Qianlong Emperor
revived the tradition of the annual Autumn hunt, and the Summer Palace at
Chengde was largely a hunting park kept stocked with game, particularly
deer. Deer and deer hunts were favourite themes in Qing dynasty court
painting. A handscroll of ‘One Hundred Deer’ by Ai Qimeng (the Jesuit artist
Ignatius Sichelbarth, 1708-80), now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
shows a similar approach to the deer in landscape as seen on the current
vases, including the wide river at the end of the scroll, and the inclusion of
colourful leaves on some of the trees. The subject of deer was obviously
one close to the Qianlong emperor’s heart, as can be seen not only in the
numerous court paintings dating to his reign, but in the appearance of deer
on porcelain. Vases such as the current examples with their large decorative
areas provided an ideal ‘canvas’ for the creation of enamel paintings of deer
in landscapes on porcelain. Qianlong’s appreciation of the theme was also
expressed on a cloisonné plaque, formerly in the collection of S. Soames,
decorated with a river landscape through which wander the so-called
‘hundred deer’ (see Sir Harry Garner, Chinese and Japanese Cloisonné
Enamels, Faber & Faber, London, 1962, p. 93 and pl. 77). The plaque is
inscribed on the back with a somewhat disingenuous Qianlong poem in
which the emperor refers to the deer with their young in the royal park,
and how they are free from fear because they are safe-guarded by imperial
decree from attack by archers shooting arrows.

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