Page 85 - Sotheby's Hong Kong Important Chinese Works of Art, Oct. 9, 2022

FIG. 6. Illustration from Nian Xiyao, Shixue [The study of vision], 1st edition, 1729
圖六 1729年初版 年希堯《視學》插圖

traditional brushwork emerged. In the 7th year of the year (1789) documents that among the valuable tributes
Yongzheng reign (1729), thanks to Castiglione’s assistance from Siam were only 3 catties of agarwood, while there were
in translation and explanation, Imperial Household Manager 600 catties of ivory and 150 catties of sandalwood (Ji Ruoxin,
Nian Xiyao (1678-1739) completed the first Chinese book ed., Uncanny Ingenuity and Celestial Feasts. The carving of
on perspective Shixue [The study of vision]. Besides the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Art of Bamboo, Wood and Fruit
illustrations originally published by the Italian artist and Stones, Taipei, 2009, pp. 102-3). Due to its scarcity, agarwood
architect Andrea Pozzo (1642-1709) in Perspectiva Pictorum carvings are often made of separate sections of wood joined
Et Architectorum (1693), the Chinese treatise includes together, as seen in the present cabinet.
59 additional line drawings, which could have been jointly The only other example of this scale (56 by 25 by h. 81 cm),
executed by Castiglione and his students (Lin Lina, ‘Cong possibly made around the same time, was first auctioned
“Huojidang” kan Yongzheng chao de gongting huihua at Christie’s London, 15th May 2007, lot 34 and later sold
huodong [A analysis on Yongzheng court painting production twice at Poly Beijing, 5th June 2012, lot 6051, and 8th
according to Qing court archives]’, The National Palace December 2018, lot 5450. Carved in relief with Chinese-
Museum Monthly of Chinese Art, vol. 319, October 2009, pp. style buildings in a landscape and equipped with eyeslits
38-51, p. 44). To illustrate the principles of linear perspective showing a maritime seascape and a European cityscape,
and the illusion of depth, a couple of drawings in Nian’s it celebrates cultural exchange between the East and the
book depict multiple overlapping picture panels, forming a West. These objects of curiosity are precisely the results of
structure not dissimilar to the present cabinet (fig. 5). such interactions. In contrast, with an antiquity-inspired dual
The present cabinet is carved from agarwood, known as portrait of Qianlong on one side and the paradise of eternal
chenxiang or qinan in Chinese, a timbre highly valued for its bliss on the other, the present cabinet represents the Dragon
fragrance. Along with tanxiang (sandalwood), agarwood was Emperor in the continuity of history, bridging past and
burnt as incense in Buddhist rituals. A record from the 54th future, reality and the world beyond time.

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