Page 166 - Important Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, Hong Kong

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The current censer is exceptional in its size and the high quality of 此件大型薰爐為乾隆朝的宮殿陳設器，為御製掐絲琺瑯器中的大型器
enamelling. The firing of large-sized vessels such as the current 物。其工藝精湛，琺瑯呈色均勻飽滿，集實用、藝術及歷史價值於一身。
censer required not only a firing kiln of considerable size, but also the
technology necessary to ensure the heated metal would not distort 乾隆朝掐絲琺瑯工藝出現了突破性發展。首先是廣泛製造大型器具，比
while the enamels were being evenly fired. It was not until the high 起之前多為製作小件，難度大增，既要有大型窰爐配合，還要對燒造技
Qing period when such technique reached its apogee, enabling the 術充分掌握，使碩大銅胎加熱後不會變形，釉料呈色也要求一致。最
successful production of monumental cloisonné enamel vessels of 成功的例子莫如故宮乾隆花園內的掐絲琺瑯寶塔，塔高 230 公分以上，
complicated design, the present censer being an outstanding example 燒造於乾隆三十九年（1774）。第二是扶植琺瑯繪畫技法的發展，乾隆
of this group. This became possible due to two key factors. 二十七年（1762）宮廷畫院與琺瑯作合併，專業畫家參與琺瑯器的繪畫
工序，大大提高了紋飾的藝術水平。第三是御製品追求精工巧製、裝飾
Firstly, during the Yongzheng reign the palace enamel workshop was 繁縟的風格。乾隆四十八年（1783）曾傳旨：「鼻煙壺上花卉畫得甚稀，
greatly expanded in scale, with the addition of numerous large firing 再畫時畫得稠密些……」，皇帝的口味大大影響當時工藝製作的審美取
kilns which facilitated the production of large-sized enamel wares. 向。第四應是大量使用鏨刻鎏金裝飾，增添金碧輝煌的效果。
According to the palace records for example, a total of 55 firing
kilns were newly installed in the enamel workshops in the 11th year 此爐的如意形雙耳及洛可可風的透雕蓋鈕為此時期琺瑯器物上較少見的
of the Yongzheng reign (1733). Such large number of kilns could be 特色。北京故宮博物院珍藏一件器型相仿的例子，載於《故宮博物院藏
accommodated because the enamel firing site was extended beyond 品大系：琺瑯器編．清掐絲琺瑯》，第 3 冊，北京，編號 232（圖一），
the palace grounds. A number of court records indicate that several 其蓋及蓋鈕與此例如出一輒，雙耳亦作如意形。另參考一件如意雙耳
improvements had been made to the firing facilities at the imperial 上同飾以雷紋的大薰爐，見上揭書，編號 231（圖二）；以及 Samuel P.
workshops under the auspices of the Yongzheng Emperor, accounting Avery 贈予布魯克林博物館一件相同蓋鈕的例子，載於《Catalogue of the
for the massive production of cloisonné enamels of remarkable quality Avery Collection of Ancient Chinese Cloisonnés》，紐約，1912 年，編號
and size during the 18th century (refer to Radiant Luminance: The 86（圖三）。
Painted Enamelware of the Qing Imperial Court, Taipei, 2012, pp. 86-89).

Secondly, after the sixth year of the Yongzheng reign (1728), the
palace enamel workshops succeeded in experimenting with locally
manufactured enamels and instigated the production of a whole new
range of enamel colours, allowing the enamellers at court to deploy a
wide array of colours to create complex designs on vessels such as those
on the present censer. Of particular significance is the production of two
new enamel colours, pink and white, which gave rise to the novel famille
rose palette on porcelains and allowed decorations on enamelled wares
to be executed with more sophisticated colour gradations, giving them
a ‘painterly’ quality. A case in point is the floral motifs on the current
censer, in which the petals and leaves are rendered in various graduating
colours and tones simulating flower paintings on paper or silk.

The various decorative elements on the current censer such as the
angular handles topped by ruyi-heads and the rococo-style reticulated
finial are highly unusual. A closely related censer is in the Palace
Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace
Museum: Enamels [Cloisonné in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)], vol. 3,
Beijing, pp. 269, no. 232 (fig. 1), which shares a very similar form with
an almost identical cover and finial. Compare also to another large
hexagonal censer in the Palace Museum Collection which is similarly
decorated with angular handles with key-fret design, see ibid., p. 268,
no. 231 (fig. 2); and a globular example gifted by Samuel P. Avery to the
Brooklyn Museum sharing the same finial and a similarly reticulated
cover, see Catalogue of the Avery Collection of Ancient Chinese
Cloisonnés, New York, 1912, no. 86 (fig. 3).

detail on base
底部細部

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