Page 232 - Sothebys Important Chinese Art 09/13/17

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AN INSCRIBED IMITATION-
BRONZE WALL VASE
QING DYNASTY

the at-back vase well potted with the rectangular
body modeled with indented corners, rising from
a short splayed foot to a waisted neck anked
by a pair of dragon handles below an everted
rim, carved and gilded to the front and sides with
archaistic angular kuilong, reserved on a dark
brown ground splashed with turquoise and blue
enamels simulating bronze encrustation, the front
centered by a slightly convex panel enclosing
an imperial poem and followed by an inscription
reading Qianlong guihai yuti (imperially inscribed
in the guihai year of Qianlong), accompanied by
two iron-red seals Qian and Long, the gilt back
with a slot for attaching to the wall, all supported
on a faux-bois stand and inscribed to the base
in gilt with a six-character studio mark reading
Liuyuchun shanfang zhi (made by the Studio of
Preserving the End of Spring)
Height 9⅜ in., 23.9 cm

PROVENANCE

Private Collection, Vancouver, Canada.

There appears to be limited records relating to
the studio mark inscribed on the present vase,
although a stone seal, carved with the same
studio name, is known. The seal was made by
Huang Yi (1744-1801), a renowned carver and
calligrapher of the mid-Qing period and one of the
‘Eight Masters of Xiling.’ Based on the inscription,
Huang made this seal for his friend Wan Yue in
the summer of the yiwei year (1774).

See a similar Qianlong imitation-bronze wall vase
of this type, but inscribed with a four-character
reign mark instead, in the National Palace
Museum, Taipei, included in the museum’s
exhibition, The Enchanting Splendor of Vases and
Planters: A Special Exhibition of Flower Vessels
from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 2014,
pl. II-47.

$ 10,000-15,000

230 SOTHEBY’S