Page 30 - Bonhams Los Angelis December 14, 2022
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A BLUE CLOISONNÉ ‘IMPERIAL POEM’ WALL VASE The even, royal blue enameling on the present wall vase, the large
Late Qing dynasty format, and the carefully repeating pattern of lotus scroll in the gilt-
Of faceted baluster form, the principal side centered by a gilt-metal wire cloisons attest to the technical skill and the taste of the late
plate inscribed with a poem attributed to a son of the Qianlong Qing dynasty. So, too, does the reference in the inscription to the
emperor and followed by zichen Yongxuan jingshu (‘respectfully written High Qing period. The poem is apocryphally signed zichen Yongxuan
by the son and official Yongxuan’), set against a rich cobalt-blue jingshu (‘respectfully written by the son and official Yongxuan’). Prince
cloisonné enamel ground patterned with gilt-metal cloisons in the form Yongxuan (1746-1832), the eighth son of the Qianlong emperor (r.
of scrolling lotus vines, all between a keyfret band above and a ruyi 1736-1795), was also known as Prince Yi of the First Rank, and
band below, affixed to a gilt-metal stand supported on ruyi-head feet posthumously as Prince Yishen of the First Rank. He was the longest
and cast with composite floral scroll, the verso a plain gilt-metal sheet living Qing dynasty imperial prince. During his lifetime, a number of
pierced for suspension. cloisonné wall vases were produced which bear his poems and are
signed in the same manner as the present. The collection of the
10 7/8in (27.6cm) high National Palace Museum, Taipei, includes numerous such wall vases,
including a rare example with celadon-toned monochrome cloisonné
$6,000 - 8,000 enamel imitating a Guanyao vase (coll. no. 中琺000576). The same
collection also includes a monochrome blue-enameled cloisonné
Provenance: censer signed zichen Yongxuan jingshu (coll no. 中琺000159), the
Sara Fredericks (1903-1986), likely acquired in the 1960s in New York, lotus-pattern on which may have inspired the present wall vase.
thence by descent
The text reads:
憐惟有態全贏李,羞是無香略遜梅,所幸一籌勝枝上,展圖常得見花
開。御題杏花 子臣永璇敬書
28 | BONHAMS