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AN ARCHAISTIC BRONZE TRIPOD VESSEL, JUE, 清乾隆 銅仿古紋爵 《大清乾隆年製》款 A BRONZE PEAR-SHAPED VASE, 17TH CENTURY 十七世紀 銅迴紋長頸瓶
SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG the base cast with a sixteen-character mark reading Da ning 《大寧廠臣蘇漢臣監督姜氏鑄至德壇用》款
Height 6¾ in., 17.2 cm chang chen Su Hanchen jian du Jiang shi zhu Zhide tan yong
(under the supervision of Officer Su Hanchen at the Da Ning 來源
This finely cast bronze incense burner skillfully adheres to workshop, Madame Jiang cast [this item] for the Zhide Altar) George Walter Vincent Smith (1832-1923) 收藏，
the archaistic jue form, but in its functionality and stylized Height 11⅜ in., 29 cm 得於1910年之前
archaism, is infused with its own individuality. For a closely 斯普林菲爾德博物館，麻省 (館藏編號 25.23.138)
related Qianlong reign-marked bronze jue vessel in the PROVENANCE
collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, see Rose Kerr, Collection of George Walter Vincent Smith (1832-1923), 紐約佳士得2021年9月24日，編號907
Later Chinese Bronzes, London, 1990, pl.19. See also another acquired prior to 1910.
example sold at Christie’s New York, 19-20th September Collection of the Springfield Museum, Massachusetts
2013, lot 1545. (accession no. 25.23.138).
Christie’s New York, 24th September 2021, lot 907.
$ 5,000-7,000
Bronze vases of this form, probably created for the display
of flowers, proliferated throughout the Song to Ming
era, but this example from the late Ming is a particularly
striking example, with its gently curved form and elegant
long neck. The demand for flower vessels in the late Ming
grew, popularized by the scholar elite. The current example
adheres to the standards demanded by the late Ming scholar
Zhang Deqian, who wrote (circa 1600):
‘Copper is preferred to gold and silver to avoid suggestion of
opulence and vases with earrings should be avoided, as also
a symmetrical arrangement in pairs, to avoid their looking
as if on a temple altar’ (see translation of ‘Cut Flowers and
Vases’ by Lin Yu Tang in The Importance of Understanding,
Cleveland, 1960, p. 243).
$ 8,000-12,000

204 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11744 LATER CHINESE BRONZES FROM THE DR. APPELBAUM COLLECTION 205