Page 80 - Christie's, Important Chinese Works of Art December 2, 2015 HK

fig. 1 ©Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
innovation of the Kangxi reign. In this period it is seen at its finest
on vases with powder-blue glazes and panels with fine bird and
flower painting in famille verte enamels, such as the large rouleau
vase in the collection of the Shanghai Museum, illustrated by
Wang Qingzheng et al. in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai
Museum Collection ᶲ㴟⌂䈑棐啷⹟䅁䒟⚾抬, Hong Kong, 1998,
pp. 218-9, no. 142. Interestingly the Kangxi reign also saw the
combination of a dongqing ⅔曺ġ(winter green) celadon glaze and
overglaze bird and flower painting in the famille verte palette. This
was usually done without reserved panels, as in the case of the
Kangxi marked jardinière in the collection of the Palace Museum,
Beijing illustrated in Porcelain from the Qing dynasty Imperial Kilns,
volume 1, book 1 – Palace Museum Collections 㓭⭖⌂䈑昊啷㶭
ẋ⽉䨹䒟☐⌟ᶨᶲℴ, Beijing, 2005, pp. 132-3, no. 34.
In the Qianlong reign imperial porcelains with reserved panels
decorated in fine overglaze enamels – usually in the famille rose
palette – once again found favour with the emperor. Several
of these had dark blue backgrounds – as in the case of the vases
from the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated
in Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose
Decoration, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
Museum, volume 39, Hong Kong, 1999, pp. 148-9, nos. 130 and 131,
and p. 151, no. 133. On occasions the background was gold, as on
the vase in the Palace Museum, Beijing, on which bird and flower
designs alternate with panels containing calligraphic inscriptions
(illustrated ibid., p. 155, no. 137), but brown, turquoise and red
backgrounds are also known in the Palace Museum collection
(illustrated ibid., p. 156, no. 138, p. 159, no. 141, p. 160, no. 142). In of the Chinese New Year, and are especially favoured for display
the same collection is a triple-spouted moon flask with circular
78
fig. 2 ©Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
reserved panels against a greenish-blue (fenqing 䰱曺) ground. The
ground is decorated in linear relief with archaistic dragon scrolls,
while the panels depict immortals in landscape painted in famille
rose enamels (illustrated ibid., p. 142, no. 124). Perhaps a more
relevant comparison to the current vessel is a vase in the Palace
Museum collection decorated in falangcai style, on which the four
enamelled panels are reserved against a pale celadon (douqing 寮
曺) ground (illustrated ibid., p. 34, no. 28). Its panels alternately
contain landscapes and long calligraphic inscriptions.
Interestingly, while the other Palace Museum vases mentioned
above have overglaze iron red marks, the falangcai vase has an
underglaze blue six-character Qianlong mark similar to that on
the current vessel.
One of the smaller enamelled panels to one side of the vessel,
beneath a gilt elephant’s head handle, is painted with a branch
of blossoming plum and a branch bearing camellia flowers. This
combination represents winter. Plum trees 㠭剙ġ meihua (Prunus
mume) are the first to blossom each year – despite the winter
frosts - and are the flower of the first month. They have provided
a subject for painters and poets in China for centuries. The
blossoms are regarded as symbolic of purity and perseverance, and
because the flowers appear on what appear to be withered old
branches, they also symbolise a vigorous old age. The five petals
of the flowers are seen as sacred and auspicious – representing the
Five Blessings of longevity, health, wealth, love of virtue and a
peaceful death. Camellias, 勞剙chahua, blossom around the time
on New Year’s Day. Camellias have a long history in Chinese art,