Page 266 - Sotheby's Chinese Ceramics Nov 30 2017 Hong Kong

615

A RARE GLASS PASTE-EMBELLISHED WALL Beautifully embellished with colourful glass inlays and set with
CLOCK a flat back, the present clock belongs to a group of decorative
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD vases made to hang on the interior wall of a carriage, where
they served not only as a functional timepiece but also as a
of bottle vase shape, the exterior set with paste gems in red, work of art for appreciation.
green and blue, the red paste gems forming five bats along the
edges, the dial bordered with a beaded edge The present lot is exceptional amongst vases of similar
type. The craftsman’s prudent eye for detail and unlimited
17.8 cm, 7 in.
creativity were demonstrated through an ingeniously planned
composition concealed amongst the seemingly random inlays.
HK$ 200,000-300,000 The pear-shaped form of the vase is cleverly defined and
US$ 25,700-38,500 bordered by five bats made from ruby-red coloured paste
stones, forming an auspicious pun of wufu (five blessings).
清乾隆 銅胎嵌料五福鑲錶轎瓶 Whilst being an object quintessentially stemming from a
Chinese tradition, the current wall vase was set in the centre
with a timepiece of English origin. The current movement is
believed to be a work by the famous English watchmaker from
Edinburgh, Thomas Reid (1746-1831).
Compare an eighteenth-century example among the
collections of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in
the exhibition catalogue Limpid Radiance: A Special Exhibition
of Glass Artifacts from the National Palace Museum Collection,
Taipei, 2016, pp. 136-137, cat. no. 155. Both in its irregular
pebble-form inlays and apron-shaped foot, the present lot
shares remarkable similarities with that in the National Palace
Museum. Another closely related wall clock, inset with a very
similar movement and attributed to the Qianlong period, was
sold at Christie’s London, 10th November 2015, lot 75.

264 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比