Page 37 - Importan Chinese Art Christie's May 2018

household or as gifts from the emperor to high Tibetan of the Chenghua reign the emperor’s advisers became
lamas favoured by the Chinese court. A number of these concerned by his preoccupation with Buddhism and the
gilt bronze fgures held double vajras – for example the gilt amount spent by the emperor in connection with it, that
bronze Bodhisattva Vajrapani in the Rietberg Museum, they suggested a sharp reduction in his perceived support
Zurich (illustrated by Helmut Uhlig in On the Path to of Buddhism. This appears to have been adopted for the
Enlightenment – The Berti Aschmann Foundation of Tibetan middle part of his reign, but his resumption of expressed
Art at the Museum Rietberg Zurich, Zurich, 1995, pp. interest in Buddhism can clearly be seen through the arts
106-7, no. 59), who holds a vajra, which is his attribute, produced in the latter years of the Chenghua reign. Among
in his right hand. This fgure was made in the imperial these the ceramics made at the imperial kiln provide a
workshops in Beijing and bears a Yongle bestowal mark. good indication of the incorporation of Buddhist motifs,
A magnifcent Xuande blue and white porcelain lidded jar including Tibetan Buddhist motifs, on porcelains made for
with horizontal fanges and several Lamaist inscriptions the court. In addition to the dishes which bear double vajra
is preserved in the collection of the Palace Museum, motifs – such as the current dish and the others discussed
Beijing, and is illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with above - a number of blue and white porcelains made
Underglaze Red (I), The Complete Collection of Treasures for the Chenghua court were decorated with Lamaist
of the Palace Museum, vol. 34, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 115, inscriptions, such as the dish with Lamaist inscriptions on
no. 109. In the Xuande reign the number of Tibetan lamas both interior and exterior in the collection of the Palace
who came to reside in the monasteries in the capital rose Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain
to record numbers, so much so that at the beginning of the with Underglaze Red (II), The Complete Collection of
Zhengtong period (1436-49), 691 of them were sent home, Treasures of the Palace Museum, vol. 35, op. cit., p. 20, no.
and soon after that the Minister of Rites requested that a 18. Lamaist inscriptions also appear on Chenghua vessels
further 450 be removed, but the emperor would not allow decorated in doucai style, such as the small doucai cup
with scrolling lotus and Sanskrit characters, which was
forcible repatriation.
excavated from the late Chenghua stratum at the imperial
In the reign of the Chenghua emperor (1465-87) there kilns at Jingdezhen, illustrated in A Legacy of Chenghua –
were 437 Tibetan monks holding high rank and 789 Imperial Porcelain of the Chenghua Reign Excavated from
lamas, who could enter the court freely. In the early years Zhushan, Jingdezhen, op. cit., pp. 290-1, no. C101.

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