Page 121 - 2019 October Important Chinese Art Sotheby's Hong Kong

EXQUISITE REVERENCE

A PAIR OF DOUCAI TIBETAN-STYLE EWERS

The Qianlong reign (1736-1795) was a splendid period during included in the exhibition China. The Three Emperors 1662-
which Tibetan Buddhism and its ritual played an important 1795, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2005, cat. no. 47. The
role. It was a time when imperial patronage of this doctrine painting portrays him seated at the centre of an assembly of
was highest, sparking an unprecedented artistic brilliancy. Buddhist deities, wearing the monastic robes and hat of the
This pair of exquisitely decorated ewers encapsulates Tibetan Gelugpa (Yellow Hat order) and holding the wheel
the spirit of this enthused creativity, radiating a spiritual of law in his left hand while forming the gesture of argument
elegance and opulence characteristic of many Tibetan with his right. The attributes of Manjushri, a sword and the
Buddhist artworks of the Qianlong era. sutra of Wisdom are painted above his shoulders.
As a zealous follower of the religion, the Qianlong Emperor Such an elaborate iconography clearly required the
did not spare any effort or expense on the renovation and contribution of Tibetan experts who worked jointly with
construction of monasteries and temples in Beijing, the Chinese artists at the imperial workshops. The palace
Yuanmingyuan Summer Palace and Chengde, in the far administration of the phenomenal production of Tibetan
northeast of Hebei province, where the Manchu rulers had Buddhist artworks, which was in the hands of Manchu
established their summer capital. At Chengde, for example, officials from the Neiwufu (Imperial Household) and Tibetan
the Emperor built the magnificent Putuozongcheng miao, a and Mongolian lamas, was centralized at the Zhongzheng
replica of the Lhasa Potala palace on a smaller scale, where dian (Hall of Central Righteousness), in the northwestern
he received the Dalai and Panchen Lamas from Tibet with corner of the Forbidden City. Artisans at the various
great pomp and splendor. workshops were overwhelmed by the great number of
commissions on the part of the Qing court. At the imperial
Within the confines of the Forbidden City, the Qianlong
Emperor, likewise, erected many Tibetan Buddhist places kilns at Jingdezhen, craftsmen were equally submerged
by the thousands of orders of ritual objects to furnish the
of worship. One of the most private chapels seems to have numerous temples and shrines and to produce gifts for
been the Yuhuage (Pavillion of Raining Flowers) in the
northwestern part of the inner city, where he is believed family and court members as well as for Tibetan prelates.
to have held ritual performances on behalf of the imperial The present ewers were important ceremonial implements
family, in particular his beloved mother, the Empress used in purification ceremonies, to sprinkle blessed water
Dowager Xiaosheng (1691-1771), who was a profound dipped with saffron over Buddhist initiates. Modelled after
devotee. Among the many religious art objects housed there, Tibetan metal prototypes which would have been offered
were remarkable thangkas depicting the Emperor as an as diplomatic gifts to the Emperor, they were of the highest
emanation of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom. quality and craftmanship, compare, for example, a gold
ewer with carved design, illustrated in Shenyang Gugong
These thangkas show the Qianlong Emperor’s commitment Bowuyuan wenwu jingpin huicui/The Gathering of Select
to Tibetan Buddhism and how he saw himself not only as a Gems from Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum Collection,
Chinese monarch, but also as a Tibetan religious leader. A
similar thangka, now in the Palace Museum, Beijing, but once Liaoning, 1991, p.43; and a pair of 17th-century silver and gilt
kept in the Puning si (Temple of Universal Tranquility), one copper vessels, finely decorated with bajixiang emblems and
gilt beaded bands, included in the exhibition of Sotheby’s
of the Wai ba miao (Eight Outer Temples) at Chengde, was
and Rossi & Rossi, Sacred Symbols. The Ritual Art of Tibet,
The Fuller Building, New York, 1999, cat. no. 13.

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