Page 223 - 2019 October Important Chinese Art Sotheby's Hong Kong

Superbly cast in the shape of a peach, this impressive 桃式盆尺寸碩大，器形吸引，加綴桃枝為鋬，別出心
basin is remarkable for its large size, colourful enamels 裁，且色彩絢爛，祥瑞華麗。掐絲琺瑯桃式盆造型獨
and naturalistically cast handle which takes the form of a 特，僅見數例與此相類，其一口沿略往內歛，展於《
gnarled branch. Cloisonné vessels in the form of peaches 絢麗．華貴．至尊：香港張宗憲先生珍藏御製宮廷掐
are unusual and only a few examples are known; one with a
slightly incurved rim was included in the exhibition Colourful, 絲琺瑯器特展》，蘇州博物館，蘇州，2007年，編號
Elegant and Exquisite: A Special Exhibition of Imperial Enamel 122。John Buchanan-Jardine 爵士及 T.B. Kitson 遞藏之
Ware from Mr Robert Chang’s Collection, Suzhou Museum, 例，則可見於《參加倫敦中國藝術國際展覽會出品圖
Suzhou, 2007, cat. no. 122; another from the collections 說》，英國皇家藝術學院，倫敦，1935-1936年，編號
of Sir John Buchanan-Jardine and T.B. Kitson, included in 2019，曾於1960年10月18日經倫敦蘇富比拍出。紐約
the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy 蘇富比且有一例，1998年3月23日，編號111。
of Arts, London, 1935-1936, cat. no. 2019, was sold in our
London rooms, 18th October 1960; and a third was sold in 藝匠應受清初常見瑞果式文房小品啟思，其材質不
our New York rooms, 23rd March 1998, lot 111.
一。例見北京故宮博物院藏雍正署款官釉桃式洗，見
This piece was probably inspired by much smaller fruit- 《故宮經典：文房清供》，北京，2015年，圖版85，
shaped vessels made for the scholar’s desk, which were 並見乾隆鈞釉及汝釉洗共二，均署年款，圖版86及87
popular throughout the early Qing dynasty. These are known 。
in a variety of media, including porcelain; see a washer
covered in a guan-type glaze, and with a Yongzheng reign
mark and of the period, in the Palace Museum, Beijing,
illustrated in Classics of the Forbidden City. Scholar’s
Paraphernalia, Beijing, 2015, pl. 85, together with two
Qianlong mark and period examples, pls 86 and 87, the first
covered in a Jun-type glaze and the second in a Ru-type
glaze.
The form and design of this basin brim with auspicious
wishes, from the numerous bats (fu), which are
homophonous with the word for blessings (fu), to the
alternating swastikas (wan) and longevity (shou) characters,
expressing the wish wanshou wujiang (may you have
ten thousand longevities without boundary), and the
colourful clouds (yun). The auspicious message is further
strengthened by its shape that depicts a peach, one of
China’s most auspicious fruit, symbolic of long life and
harbinger of happiness.

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