Page 30 - Sotheby's Qianlong Calligraphy Oct. 3, 2018

fig. 1
Qing Gaozong yuzhi shiwen quanji [Anthology of imperial Qianlong poems and text],
Yuzhi shi san ji [Imperial poetry, vol. 3], juan 52, p. 2
圖一
《清高宗御製詩文全集．御製詩三集》，卷52，頁2

poetry and prose are often also carved with dates, signatures, in conjunction with inscriptions of his poetry and prose on
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and informal seals. The base of the jade bowl is incised in seal court jades. Compared to the lot on offer, the Beijing bowl
script with the characters Qianlong nianzhi (‘Made during the has thicker walls, a shallower body, and a taller and thicker
Qianlong reign’). Done with an awl, the incision is deep and foot. Measuring 13.8 cm in diameter in the mouth, it is 5.7
powerful. cm in overall height, with a base of 6.7 cm in height, and
is slightly larger than the lot on offer. Along the rim of its
This jade bowl was in the collection of Elizabeth Parke
Firestone (1897-1990), whose son-in-law William Clay mouth and along the bottom edge of its body respectively,
Ford was a grandson of Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor there are two bands of incised animal-face huiwen patterns.
Company. Firestone was fond of fashion and organised Notably, its base is carved in relief with the four characters
fashion shows. She also had a love of Chinese jades. After her Qianlong yuyong (‘For Qianlong’s Imperial use’) in seal script.
passing, this jade bowl was auctioned at Christie’s New York The Beijing bowl’s form suggests that it was not created by
in March 1991. In October 2003, Sotheby’s Hong Kong again the palace workshops or their subsidiaries in Suzhou and
auctioned it. Yangzhou during Qianlong’s reign. Rather, it is an example of a
Central Asian type.
Two other jade bowls, bearing the same inscription, are in the
Palace Museums of Beijing and Taipei respectively. The Taipei To understand why the Qianlong Emperor loved jade bowls,
example is of the same type. I have not examined it in person, it is important to investigate this high-footed and thick-walled
but according to published images and the introduction jade bowl. Jade bowls of the same type were sent to his court
by museum expert Deng Shuping, it is similar in form and from Xinjiang in 1740, 1756, and 1758, during which time the
material to the bowl on offer. Both are undecorated except for Qing empire continually battled the Uyghur and Altishahr
the inscription of Qianlong’s poem, and both have the same forces entrenched in Central Asia and expanded its control of
signature and date, seals and reign mark (fig. 2). 3 the west. The 1740 and 1756 tributes are now in the National
Palace Museum in Taipei, and the 1758 tribute is in the Palace
The Beijing jade bowl is made from white jade and has a high Museum in Beijing. The 1740 bowl bears no inscription of
foot (figs 3 and 4). Its inscriptions and date are identical imperial poetry, but the corresponding case made by the
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in textual content and script to those on the present bowl, court includes a label specifying that it was sent by Galden
but were carved more deeply. They are followed by two Tseren, ruler of the Dzungars. The 1756 bowl bears an
intaglio seals reading Dejiaqu and Jixia yiqing, which like inscription of the Qianlong Emperor’s poem (fig. 5). 5
Bide and Langrun were casual seals often used by Qianlong

28 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比