Page 160 - Important Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, Hong Kong

VARIOUS PROPERTIES

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A VERY RARE PAIR OF IMPERIAL INSCRIBED 清乾隆 掐絲琺瑯御題詩桃式轎瓶一對

CLOISONNE ENAMEL PEACH-SHAPED WALL 來源
瑞典斯德哥爾摩私人珍藏
VASES 倫敦邦瀚斯，2009 年 5 月 14 日，拍品 164 號

QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795) 著錄
《至尊華貴—歐洲私人珍藏御製掐絲琺瑯器》，香港，
Each vase is of peach shape with a gilt flat back, decorated in 2013 年，編號 34

brightly coloured enamels with leafy branches bearing blossoming 瓶呈桃形。正面淺綠琺瑯釉為地，飾桃樹結花盛開。一瓶掐絲御題詩隸
書，另一瓶掐絲御題詩篆書，詩上方均附「御製」二字。直背光素。
peach flowers, on a graduating pistachio-green, white, pink and
釋文：
red ground, superimposed with lines of gilt poetic inscriptions, 石欄雲母井。煜煜蔚霞蒸。
乍見蓬萊種。如川算益增。
one written in lishu script and the other in zhuanshu script. Both 疊樹留紅錦。盤根度索傍。
西瀛珍果至。藹藹萃千祥。
poems are surmounted by the characters Yuzhi.
轎瓶始於明宣德朝，因瓶背有孔可掛於牆壁或轎中，故稱「壁瓶」或「轎
5 º in. (13.3 cm.) wide (2) 瓶」。至乾隆朝大行其道，最多為瓷器，其中不少如本瓶附帶御題詩句。

HK$800,000-1,000,000 US$100,000-130,000 掐絲琺瑯轎瓶最初為花瓶式形制，始於明萬曆朝。臺北故宮博物院藏二
件乾隆朝臣于敏中題詩花瓶式轎瓶，瓶腹亦掐絲「御製」二字，見 1999
PROVENANCE 年台北出版《明清琺瑯器展覽圖錄》，圖版 47-48 號。桃式轎瓶較為少
見，但據《造辦處各作成做活計清檔》記載：雍正六年九月二十七日曾
A Swedish private collection, Stockholm 做得琺瑯桃式掛瓶一件，隨象牙茜色長春花一束，所描述的應是桃式轎
Sold at Bonhams London, 14 May 2009, lot 164 瓶的較早例子，見同上書，125 頁。

LITERATURE 雙桃紋飾廣見於雍正朝以來的御製瓷器及其他工藝品上，寓意「雙福」。
Harold A. Hartog Collection 舊藏一件乾隆掐絲琺瑯御題詩雙桃形轎瓶，
Reverence and Perfection: Magnificent Imperial Cloisonné Enamels from a 瓶面紋飾與本對瓶近似，並同樣掐絲「御製」二字，2008 年 5 月 13 日
Private European Collection, Hong Kong, 2013, no. 34 於倫敦佳士得拍賣，拍品 50 號。

This pair of unusual peach-shaped wall vases may have been intended
for use in a room, but may also have been intended for the inside of
a carriage or sedan chair. Wall vases were popular in a number of
different materials in the Qianlong reign, and pairs of porcelain wall
vases are known to have been commissioned in 1742 to bear imperial
inscriptions stating that they were for use in an imperial sedan chair.
An example of such a porcelain sedan-chair vase is preserved in the
Percival David Foundation, illustrated and discussed by Rosemary
Scott in For the Imperial Court - Qing Porcelain from the Percival David
Foundation of Chinese Art, New York, 1997, pp. 18-19 and 52-3, no. 3.

This attractive pair of cloisonne enamel peach-shaped wall vases, is
very rare, not only in their form, but also for the fact that they bear
inscriptions forming part of the design, and the two characters Yu
zhi which indicate imperial manufacture. The choice of peaches with
branches and leaves was a popular one in many media, since the peach
was a symbol of longevity, and two peaches thus symbolised doubled
longevity. As such this vase would have been an ideal gift on the
occasion of an imperial birthday.

A number of peach-form works of art are to be found among enamelled
metal objects in the 18th century, although wall vases are rare. One
close comparison is known, which is a cloisonné enamel double-peach
wall vase also bearing imperial inscriptions and Yuzhi marks, from
the Harold A. Hartog Collection and sold at Christie’s London, 13 May
2008, lot 50. A cloisonné double-peach shaped box with flowering
peach branch, dating to the second half 18th century is illustrated by H.
Brinker and A. Lutz, in Chinese Cloisonné - The Pierre Uldry Collection,
New York, 1989, no. 302. A double-peach shaped jardiniere with
pomegranate and lingzhi applique is in the Robert Chang Collection
(illustrated in Colorful, Elegant, and Exquisite - A Special Exhibition of
Imperial Enamel Ware from Mr. Robert Chang’s Collection , Suzhou,
2008, p. 122).

A Yongzheng-marked painted enamel peach-shaped water pot with a
smaller peach on the side, and its twig curled under it to form the base,
plus two red bats painted on the large peach, is in the collection of the
Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, The
Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong,
2002, p. 203, no. 194. This water pot, which is from the Qing Court
Collection, has leaves curled up the sides of the peach in the same
manner as can be seen on the current wall vases.

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