Page 15 - Sotheby's Dr. Wou Kiuan Collection CHINESE ART , Oct. 9, 2022

For the 17th day of the 5th month of the same year, there is another record that Eunuchs
Gao Yu and Hu Shijia, as proposed by Treasurer Bai Shixiu and Deputy Foreman Dazi, had 當時乾隆帝的反應如何，如今已無從稽考，
presented a yangcai red-ground ‘brocade work’ [sgraffiato] reticulated vase with ‘heaven 但閱清檔記錄，便悉即使造價高昂，聖喻為
and earth intertwined’ design, for which the Emperor had ordered a fitted stand, which was 單獨之器配燒成對，又命為新進瓷瓶製座，
completed on the 21st day of the same month. Two further pairs are recorded, one for the 存紫禁城內廷要殿乾清宮，與其他甲等御藏
如琺瑯彩瓷等同置一堂，由此可推龍顏之
30th day, 11th month, 10th year of Qianlong (1745), for which fitted huali wood stands were
悅。
tailor-made and presented on the 21st day of the following month; the other was presented
on the first day, 5th month, 11th year (1746) and fitted stands were submitted on the 18th 同是乾隆八年，唐英奉旨編註〈陶冶圖〉
day of the same month. （林業強，《瓷緣：達文堂藏瓷》，香
港，2019年，卷2，頁270-313）。〈陶
The Emperor’s reaction has not been passed on, but circumstantial evidence suggests that 冶圖冊〉二十開，圖文並茂闡釋燒瓷程序，
he must have been pleased. Not only did he ask for pairs to be made for the singles, in spite 個別工藝細節雖則從缺，更沒有收錄如鏤
空、交泰、轉旋等複雜技法，但僅一般大宗
of their exaggerated costs, but also he ordered stands to be made as soon as the vases
陶事，乾隆帝看畢也可理解窰務繁瑣。在唐
had arrived and asked for them to be kept together with other top-rated artefacts such as
英麾下，短短數年間御窰瓷藝突飛猛進，其
falangcai wares in the Qianqinggong, the main hall of the Inner Court in the Forbidden City.
功不可沒。凡製此類瓷作，技術要求嚴苛，
往往事倍功半，廢棄品眾，即使對御窰而 Fig.4 Unknown artist, Old House at Fonthill, Wiltshire, between 1800 and 1810, detail, watercolor and graphite on medium, slightly textured, cream wove
1743 is also the year in which Tang Ying annotated a painted album of the porcelain-making 言，也是耗材費工之舉，難怪聖旨也籲燒造 paper, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, B1975.2.25
process for the Emperor, who had asked for it (Peter Y.K. Lam, Chinese Ceramics from 適度。現今傳世御瓷中，這類瓶器罕如鳳毛 圖四 1800-10年 佚名《放山君舊房》局部 水彩、石墨紙本 耶魯英國藝術中心 保羅梅隆收藏 B1975.2.25
the Dawentang Collection, Hong Kong, 2019, vol. 2, pp. 270-313). The twenty illustrations 麟角，價格不菲，實屬意料之事。
and detailed explanations could have left the Emperor in no doubt about the complexity
這類玲瓏轉心瓶設計精妙，堪稱鬼斧神工，
of ceramic manufacture; and he would have seen that the album dealt merely with the
唐英還以《易經》八卦暗藏玄機，在取悅君 The strongly Western-oriented painted decoration on the outside of this vase contains a
regular production that was done on a large scale and showed nothing of the individual
心上再下一籌。八卦以乾卦為首，三爻皆 completely different message, but one that the Qianlong Emperor would have welcomed 儘管當時圓明園洋風樓閣尚未興土木，傳教
treatment and exceptional working procedures reticulated, interlocking and revolving 陽，象徵天、君、父等。高宗以此為年號， no less. “Nowhere was the multicultural nature of Qing rulership more evident than in 士自康熙年間（1662-1722年）已行走宮
vases would have required. It was only for a few years that Tang Ying managed to get 御器、璽印上，添飾龍紋拱襯，兩者相合， the paintings, porcelains, and other objets d’art that were created for palace use and for 中，引入西方藝品。大部分舶來之品，甚至
his potters to create such marvels. The level of craftsmanship they commanded and 諧音乾隆。八卦中，首卦乾為天，末卦坤為 presentation to officials and embassies. The use of material culture as an expression of 科學儀器，均飾以當時流行的花卉圖案，曲
the amounts of manual labour and material they consumed – failures must have been 地，分主男女，二卦契合，陰陽調順，互為 the court’s cosmopolitan vision is exemplified in the activities of the Qianlong emperor” 瓣卷草，尤其風靡法國。此瓶下方所飾的纏
considerable – were excessive even for an imperial workshop, so that even the Emperor 補足。同類瓷瓶，清檔故曰乾坤交泰。乾坤 (Evelyn S. Rawski, The Last Emperors. A Social History of Qing Imperial Institutions, 卷枝莖，仿照流行飾紋而繪，Pirazzoli-t’
advised moderation. It is not surprising that they remain among the rarest and priciest 交泰瓶既有天地協和之意，對一國之君而 Serstevens 指它們於十七世紀歐洲藝術
言，正中下懷。 Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1998, p. 51). 中無處不在，如法國織毯圖案，但也見於
pieces of imperial porcelain today.
其他材質之品（Michèle Pirazzoli-t’
結構上，此器以內瓶為主，繪飾纏枝蓮紋， Although the construction of Western-style palaces in the Yuanmingyuan summer resort Serstevens，〈Notes on European
With the development of these vases, Tang Ying not only managed to present works to the 溢早明（1368-1644年）雅風，從外瓶玲 had not yet begun, the court had received Western artefacts in many different media Decorative Arts at the Chinese Court
court that were considered gui fu shen gong (‘demon labour and spirit work’); he also knew 瓏透雕隙縫窺看，彷彿乍見往昔皇室鼎盛， through the Jesuits who had been active at the court already in the Kangxi period (1662- during the Kangxi Reign: Importations,
how to touch the Qianlong Emperor personally. Trigrams and their message in the Yijing 呼應清帝延襲前朝輝煌之說。
1722). Most of these foreign objects, even scientific instruments, were decorated with the Copies and Adaptations〉，《國立故宮
(Book of Changes) appear to have carried important meaning for the Emperor who used floral ornaments that were en vogue particularly in France at the time. Prototypes of the 博物院年刊》，卷45，2012年10月，頁
外瓶密飾纏枝番花，洋風極濃，寄語雖與前
the first of the Eight Trigrams, qian, consisting of three unbroken strokes and representing 7，圖 6、7a）。瓶腹俯向如意雲頭上的
異，但同得君心。正如羅友枝寫道，清朝統 curly foliate scrolls around the lower part of the vase, which Pirazzoli-t’Serstevens calls ‘in
heaven, or the male principle, in his reign title and as such also on works of art and in his 八瓣番蓮，花心綴珠，早見於北京故宮藏
治的文化多元性，在供御及賞賜給朝臣使節 European seventeenth-century art … omnipresent’, appear, for example in French tapestry
seals, together with dragons, long, homophone of the long in his title. In the archives, these 的繪畫、瓷器和其他工藝品上最為顯著， and carpet design, but also in many other media (Michèle Pirazzoli-t’Serstevens, ‘Notes 康熙織錦，圖載於《Kangxi, Empereur
vases are referred to as qiankun jiaotai, ‘heaven and earth intertwined’, with qian the first, 乾隆年間藝文活動便是清宮以物質文化展 on European Decorative Arts at the Chinese Court during the Kangxi Reign: Importations, de Chine, 1662-1722. La cite interdite
kun the eighth trigram, and the two together signifying heaven and earth, or the male and 示其國際視野的例證（詳見著作《最後的 Copies and Adaptations’, National Palace Museum Bulletin, vol. 45, October 2012, p. 7, figs à Versailles》，Musée national du
château de Versailles（凡爾賽國家博物
female principles. For the Qianlong Emperor, such symbols of a harmonious universe must 皇族：清代宮廷社會史》，柏克萊及洛杉 6 and 7a). Idealized eight-petalled blooms with pearl rings around the centre, not unlike 館），巴黎，2004年，頁10，編號120。
have felt like a gratifying comment on his own rule. 磯，1998年，頁51）。
the flower-heads in the pendent ruyi panels of this vase, can already be seen on a Kangxi- 奇葩仙葉，饒富想像，整體作幾何式布局，
period brocade in the Palace Museum, Beijing (Kangxi, Empereur de Chine, 1662-1722. La 種種均可追溯西方始源，局部飾紋更以色彩
The inner tube which represents the actual body of the vase, is painted with underglaze- 濃淡添陰影，增強立體效果，這正是遭中國
cite interdite à Versailles, Musée national du château de Versailles, Paris, 2004, p. 10, no.
blue lotus scrolls in early Ming (1368-1644) style. A glimpse through the narrow openings 120). Not only the imaginary blooms and leaves and the geometric arrangement of the 畫師屏棄的西洋技法。此瓶繪飾，如器頸上
in the outer wall thus seemingly offers a view into a distant past – a glorious imperial past, 仰如意雲紋與圓環相扣，前後層次清 ，
overall floral design are Western in origin. In parts of the decoration, distinct shading was
whose natural heirs the Manchu emperors claimed to be. 效果幾可亂真。
introduced to create three-dimensionality, a Western painting device that was basically
rejected by Chinese painters. On this vase, a veritable trompe-l’oeil effect has been 唐英曾供職內廷，對京城潮流定必瞭然，遂
achieved particularly with the rings suspended from ruyi motifs at the neck. 命景德鎮畫匠倣模此風。雖以外國式樣為
範，終卻自成一格，發展成洋彩瓷器的獨特
藝風。

28 A JOURNEY THROUGH CHINA’S HISTORY THE DR WOU KIUAN COLLECTION PART II SOTHEBY’S HONG KONG 29