Page 79 - 2018 Hong Kong Important Chieese Art

fig. 2
Famille-rose ruby-ground ‘lotus’ vase with ruyi handles,
seal mark and period of Qianlong
© Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei
圖二
清乾隆 粉彩紫地勾蓮紋如意耳瓶《大清乾隆年製》款
© 台北國立故宮博物院藏品

would have appreciated an object whose colour and imagery lived most of his life with his wife Mabel and family. According
prompted ideas of learning and qualities of purity and integrity to Caroline Dakers’s study, to him ‘size and quantity mattered
as advocated by the teachings of Buddhism (alluded to here just as much as quality. He was an addict, surrounding himself
by the beautiful lotus flower). The ruyi sceptre and the wan with paintings, engravings, medals and autographs of royalty,
symbol on the handles represent the granting of good wishes. aristocrats and distinguished politicians, suggesting his
6
The wan symbol was introduced into China with the spread of collecting was linked to a desire for status.’ Dakers further
Buddhism. The pronunciation of wan is a homophone for the notes that once ‘hooked’ on the work of a particular artist,
Chinese word of ‘ten thousand’ or ‘infinity’. Combined with the designer or craftsman his inclination was to buy everything he
red ribbon (shoudai), the design is a reference to the wish of could lay his hands on. Between 1861-1866 he spent £40,000
‘having ten thousand longevities without boundary’ (wanshou on porcelain alone which was undoubtedly a vast sum at
7
wujiang). the time. The collection later became known as the Fonthill
Heirlooms after it was inherited by Lord Margadale of Islay.
The majority of extant yangcai porcelains may be found in the
The contents of Fonthill House have been gradually sold at
collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei. They are the
auction, first in 1965, and then in 1971 and 2004. 8
focus of Liao Baoxiu’s study titled Huali cai ci: Qianlong yangcai
/Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch’ien-lung Reign, 1 See Liao Baoxiu, Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch’ien-lung Reign,
Taipei, 2008, p. 14.
National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2008. Liao demonstrates the 2 Ibid., p. 14; and for the translation see S.W. Bushell, Oriental Ceramic Art,
wide variety of wares decorated in the yangcai and confirms London, 1981 (1896), p. 234.
how orders for these pieces seem to date from the early 1740s. 3 Qing gong ciqi dang’an quanji [Complete records on porcelain from the Qing
court], Beijing, 2008.
The present vase has a distinguished provenance, formerly 4 Dongguan Han ji jiaozhu [Han Records of the Eastern Lodge, annotated]
belonging to Alfred Morrison (1821-1897), one of the wealthiest edited by Wu Shuping, Beijing, 2008, 18.804.
5 Xunzi jianzhu [Xunzi, simply annotated] edited by Zhang Shitong, Shanghai,
of Victorian collectors of works of art, paintings, autographs 1974, 1.1.
and manuscripts. Second son of James Morrison (1790-1857) 6 Caroline Dakers, ‘Size Matters: The Extraordinary Collection of Alfred
, who was a businessman and Member of Parliament, Alfred Morrison, Victorian Maecenas,’ in Picturing the Nineteenth Century, University
of Kentucky, Kentucky, 2013.
inherited Fonthill House in Wiltshire from his father where he
7 Caroline Dakers, Fonthill Recovered: A Cultural History, London, 2018, pp.
146-147.
8 For more information see Audrey Wang, Chinese Antiques: An Introduction to
the Chinese Art Market, London, 2012.
IMPORTANT CHINESE ART 77