Page 59 - 2019 October Important Chinese Art Sotheby's Hong Kong

The mille-fleurs pattern – in Chinese wan hua dui, ‘ten 萬花堆，又謂百花圖，滿畫繁花盛綻，寓意百花呈
thousand flowers piled up’, or bai hua tu, ‘hundred flowers 瑞。萬花堆疊，初見於康熙北京銅胎畫琺瑯，參考北
design’ – with its joyful evocation of nature’s abundance is 京故宮藏水丞，高不足三公分，圖見《故宫博物院藏
such a universally appealing motif that it is extremely well 品大系．琺瑯器編》，卷5：清畫琺瑯，北京，2011
known despite being exceedingly rare. This demanding
design appears to originate from the imperial enamelling ，圖版32。百花圖瓷器，花團錦簇，多彩並施，精妙
workshops in the Forbidden City in Beijing, where in the 細密，要求落筆準繩，毫釐不差。雍正始燒，此後延
Kangxi reign it was tried out on a small copper vessel, a 製，十九世紀各朝續有此式，卻終未成大宗，頗為稀
water pot of less than 3 cm height, which is still preserved 有。
in the Palace Museum today, and illustrated in The
Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum, Enamels, 器形相類之乾隆年製帶款百花圖盤甚罕。參考一百
vol. 5: Painted Enamels in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), 花圖圓盤，收錄在田路周一，《清代乃瓷器》，東
Beijing, 2011, pl. 32. By the Yongzheng period, the design 京，1983年，彩圖版39。上海博物館藏一盤，飾折枝
began to be reproduced on porcelain, and its popularity 花卉，署「養和堂製」藍料款，圖見《中國陶瓷全
continued to grow through to the 19th century. With its
multitude of enamel colours, its complex densely interwoven 集》，卷21，上海，1981年，圖版119。香港蘇富比
layout, naturalistic representation of blooms and leaves with 曾拍出一對例，2004年4月25日，編號232，後再售於
sophisticated shading and an astonishing attention to detail, 香港佳士得2012年5月30日，編號3993。香港蘇富比
this design must have been one of the most challenging for 1992年10月27日又有一例，編號143。香港佳士得還
the imperial porcelain painters to master. 有一盤，1992年9月29日拍出，編號597。
Qianlong mark and period trays of this oval form and
painted with this sumptuous design are rare. Compare a 其他器形之百花圖瓷，可參考巴黎吉美國立亞洲藝術
Qianlong mark and period circular dish with this design, 博物館 Ernest Grandidier 舊藏瓶，以及楓丹白露宮歐
illustrated in Taji Shuichi, Shindai no Jiki [Porcelain of the 仁妮皇后典藏茶壺，均署乾隆年款，圖見 Alexandre
Qing dynasty], Tokyo, 1983, col. pl. 39. See also a dish with Hougron，《La Céramique Chinoise Ancienne》，巴
scattered flowers and with a Yanghe tang zhi (Made for the 黎，2015年，頁260-261。另見一瓶，圖載於小山富
Hall of Cultivation) hallmark in blue enamel, in the Shanghai 士夫，《陶器全集》，卷16，東京，1958年，圖版
Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci qunaji [Complete
collection of Chinese ceramics], vol. 21, Shanghai, 1981, pl. 49。遼寧省博物館藏觚，則見《遼寧省博物館》，
119; a pair sold in these rooms, 25th April 2004, lot 232, and 北京，1983年，彩圖版181。紐約蘇富比曾拍出一
again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th May 2012, lot 3993; a 爐，2014年3月18/19日，編號480。還有 Dreyfus 珍藏
dish sold in these rooms, 27th October 1992, lot 143; and a 對盃，曾展於《Ausstellung Chinesischer Kunst [中國藝
further dish sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29th September 術展覽]》，Gesellschaft für Ostasiatische Kunst [東亞藝
1992, lot 597. 術學會]，柏林，1929年，編號1042，後在1973年12月
This sophisticated motif is also found painted on various 11日售於倫敦蘇富比，編號432。
types of objects, such as a Qianlong mark and period vase
and a teapot illustrated in Alexandre Hougron, La Céramique
Chinoise Ancienne, Paris, 2015, pp. 260 and 261, the first
from the collection of Ernest Grandidier, now in the Musée
Guimet, Paris, and the second in the Musée de l’Imperatrice
Eugénie, Château de Fontainbleau; a globular vase illustrated
in Fujio Koyama, Tōki zenshu [Complete series on ceramics],
vol. 16, Tokyo, 1958, pl. 49; a gu-shaped example, in the
Liaoning Provincial Museum, illustrated in Liaoning shen
bowuguan [Liaoning provincial museum], Beijing, 1983,
col. pl. 181; a censer sold in our New York rooms, 18th/19th
March 2014, lot 480; and a pair of cups from the Dreyfus
collection, included in the exhibition Ausstellung Chinesischer
Kunst, Gesellschaft für Ostasiatische Kunst, Berlin, 1929,
cat. no. 1042, and sold in our London rooms, 11th December
1973, lot 432.

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