Page 66 - Christie's Fine Chiense Works of Art November 2018 London

A VERY RARE AND LARGE
EARLY YONGZHENG TEAPOT

ROSEMARY SCOTT, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC CONSULTANT

This unusually large teapot bears a well-written six- house be blessed with riches and honour’. The peony is
character underglaze blue Yongzheng mark on the base, but known as the fower of riches and honour, while yu from
it is clear that it dates to the early years of the Yongzheng magnolia and the tang from crab-apple provide a rebus for
period. A similarly-sized teapot decorated in a similar style yutang or ‘jade hall’, which was a respectful way of referring
and also with bold cursive large-scale calligraphy is in the to a wealthy household. The theme of the decoration is
collection of the Palace Museum Beijing (illustrated in reinforced by the calligraphic inscription, which cover most
Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, 38, The of one side of the teapot and reads: yu tang chun fu gui玉堂
Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, 春富貴 , followed by what appears to be a name: Yue Qing月
Hong Kong, 1999, p. 92, no. 84). Like the current teapot, 卿 - literally ‘moon’ or ‘month’ and ‘minister’ or ‘high oficial’,
the Beijing teapot is decorated in famille verte overglaze which is probably a pen-name. In place of the separate xi
enamels with the black and red enamels predominating. and yuan (Western Garden) seals on the Kangxi teapot and
The Palace Museum teapot, which comes from the Qing brush pots, the current teapot has a single dark red seal
Court collection, does not have a reign mark, but has been reading: yun ju雲居 ‘Cloud Abode’ or ‘Cloud Dwelling’.
dated to the Kangxi reign. In addition to the black enamel The reference to ‘Western Garden’ in the seals on the
calligraphic inscription, the Beijing teapot bears two seals Kangxi items from the Palace Museum is not surprising,
in dark red enamel at the end of the inscription reading xi as there was a Western Garden in the imperial palace as
and yuan 西園 Western Garden. The same palette, bold use early as the Han dynasty, and the tradition of such imperial
of black enamel, cursive calligraphy and two dark red seals gardens continued. Although the seals may instead
can also be seen on two brush pots in the collection of the be a reference to the famous ‘Elegant Gathering in the
Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated ibid., pp. 98-9, nos. 90 Western Garden’ 西園雅集 attended by a number of famous
and 91). While the frst of these brush pots is decorated literati, which is believed to have taken place in AD 1087
almost entirely in black enamel in imitation of ink painting, in the garden belonging to Wang Shen (王詵 AD 1037-c.
with only very small areas of green and red, the second of 1093). There are extant paintings of this elegant gathering
the two brush pots is decorated using famille verte enamels attributed to Li Gonglin (李公麟 AD 1049-1106) and to the
in a similar way to that seen on the current teapot – with a Southern Song artist Liu Songnian (劉松年). It is, however,
somewhat greater use of the red and green enamels. The more dificult to identify with any certainty the reference
treatment of the lotus leaves on the brush pot is particularly intended by the seal Yunju ‘Cloud Dwelling’ on the current
reminiscent of the treatment of the peony leaves on the teapot. It is possible that this is a Buddhihst reference.
current teapot. There was a Yunju temple with a stone pagoda at Fangshan
The foral decoration on the teapot is composed of in the Beijing area from the Tang dynasty. Indeed, its stone
magnolia, peony and crab-apple. This was a popular pagoda, built in AD 711, still stands. Records indicate
combination in the 18th century and thereafter, as the that the 10th century Northern Song Chan Buddhist
fowers combine to provide an auspicious rebus. White 44th Generation Patriarch Dharma Master Dao Qi (道齊
magnolia in Chinese is yulan 玉蘭, crab-apple is haitang 海 ‘Consonant with the Way’ AD 929-997) was associated
棠, and peony is known as fuguihua 富貴花. Together these with Yunju Monastery. The Master belonged to the Jin
suggest the phrase yutang fugui 玉堂富貴 – ‘May your noble family, which came from Hongzhou 洪州, but during his