Page 66 - 2020 Sept 22 Junkunc_ Chinese Jade Carvings _ Sotheby's NYC Asia Week

9/2/2020 Junkunc: Chinese Jade Carvings | Sotheby's

The present stand is undeniably a product of the imperial court, identified by the yi character inscribed to the base. The style of
the mark is consistent with those seen on imperial stands preserved in the Palace Museums, such as a wood stand made for a
Song dynasty Ding dish, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, carved to the underside with the same yi character, included in the
exhibition Obtaining Refined Enjoyment: The Qianlong Emperor's Taste in Ceramics, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2012, cat. no.
95. Yi is the second character in tiangan (Heavenly Stems), a system of ordinals used in ancient China. According to Zaobanchu
records from the Qianlong period, stands were inscribed with the characters from tiangan based on the grade of the objects for
which they were made. The imperial records from the 3rd day of the 12th month of the 18th year of Qianlong, state that the
emperor decreed that the character yi was to be inscribed to the stands of ceramics from the imperial collection that were
classified as being in the second most important category (Qinggong neiwufu zaobanchu dangan zonghui [Zaobanchu archives of
the Qing Imperial Household Department], vol. 19, Beijing, 2007, p. 542).

本品器形規整，雕工精細，底刻「乙」字，為標準宮廷制式，可參考兩岸故宮清宮舊藏底座，如一宋代定窰盤所配木座，現藏台北國立故
宮博物院，底刻相同「乙」字款，展《得佳趣：乾隆皇帝的陶瓷品味》，國立故宮博物院，台北，2012年，編號95。「乙」字於天干中
列第二。據乾隆時期造辦處資料記載，天干字當時可作為評定御藏等級之用。見乾隆十八年記事錄中十二月初三一則，乾隆曾下旨為近交
瓷器配座，並諭於第二等重要品底座下刻乙字（《清宮內務府造辦處檔案總匯》，卷19，北京，2007年，頁542）。

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