Page 46 - Sotheby's Asian Art PARIS, December 10, 2019

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QUATRE FEUILLES DE L’ALBUM IMPÉRIAL DES The Huang Qing Zhigong tu is a monumental compilation
MINORITÉS “ZHIGONG TU”, VOL. VI (ZHIGONG in pictures and text on the historical backgrounds,
TU LIU CE) geographical locations, products, dining habits, costume
designs and local customs of the 27 countries which held
DYNASTIE QING, EPOQUE QIANLONG, CA. 1750-1761
diplomatic relations with the Qing court under the Kangxi
encre et couleurs sur soie, l’une représentant un emperor. Compiled between 1750 and 1761, it comprised
homme issu d’un groupe de minorités, avec un titre three parts and included the illustrated volumes, the
et une inscription en chinois à droite, les trois autres written volumes and the printed volumes.
représentant chacune une femme issue de différents The illustrated part was originally conceived as three
groupes de minorités, avec un titre en chinois et en sets of handcrolls (juan) and album leaves executed by
manchu à droite, et avec une inscription en manchu à imperial court painters. While two handscrolls are in the
gauche (4) Palace Museum, Beijing, and in the National Palace, Taipei,
chaque feuille 32,3 x 30,3 cm, each leaf 12⅝ by 12 in. only three incomplete albums of the Huang Qing Zhigong
Four leaves from the Imperial Album of Minorities “Zhigong tu”, tu are known to this date. All three of these albums were
Vol. VI (Zhigong tu liu ce) discovered in France, the first comprising 52 leaves from
the sixth volume of illustrations from the Zhigong tu was
Qing Dynasty, Qianlong Period, ca. 1750-1761
offered in Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8th October 2006, lot
Ink and colour on silk, illustrating one man and three women 1103; the second, comprising 36 leaves from the first
from 4 of the 58 minority groups in Gansu and Sichuan volume of illustrations from the Zhigong tu, sold with
Joron-Derem, Paris, 14th December 2016, lot 376; the third
20 000-30 000 € comprising 26 leaves from the fourth album of illustrations
175 000-262 000 HK$ 22 300-33 400 US$ from the Zhigong tu, sold with Marc Labarbe, 18th June
2016.
清乾隆 御製「職貢圖」冊六 設色絹本 四幀
The four illustrations in the present lot are painted on silk,
and mounted on paper and silk. Each leaf depicts a single
figure including three women and a man accompanied by
an inscription in either Chinese or Manchu. The complete
printed part of the Zhigong tu allows us to attribute these
four leaves to volume six of the Zhigong tu (Zhigong tu
liu ce) which relates to the third juan of the handscroll
in the Palace Museum, Beijing. The particular subject
of this scroll is devoted to the minority tribes of Gansu
and Sichuan and contains a total of 58 illustrations
corresponding to the 58 minority tribes. The album of
illustrations offered in 2006 in Sotheby’s Hong Kong is the
incomplete volume six (Zhigong tu liu ce) and contains 52
pages depicting figures from the minority tribes of Gansu
and Sichuan. As the album offered in Sotheby’s Hong Kong
was incomplete comprising 20 double pages featuring a
man and a woman from 20 tribes and a further 12 pages
revealing either a man or a woman, we can assume that the
four album leaves offered here are among the missing eight
illustrations from the same album.
These four illustrations from Zhigong tu liu ce are a rare
and important discovery. As noted by Nie Chongzheng in
his introduction to the album offered in Sotheby’s Hong
Kong in 2006, ‘the French album (Zhigong tu liu ce) (from
which these four illustrations are taken) is invaluable as it
is the earliest known edition: the production of the Tibutes
first commenced in the Sichuan Province. In the 8th
month of Qianlong 15th year (1750), the emperor ordered
the Sichuan governor-general to submit descriptive
drawings of certain tribes of his land. Once received, the
emperor had these illustrations processed, edited, and
a standardized format was generated. In the 6th month
of Qianlong 16th year (1751), this project expanded into
a nationwide scale’, see Nie Chongzheng,’Tributes to the
Imperial Qing’, in Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8th October 2006,
pp. 198-199.

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