蘇富比清乾隆宫粉地洋彩鹤鹿同春如意瓶

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巴黎苏富比即将拍卖一件带有《大清乾隆年制》款之清乾隆宫粉地洋彩鹤鹿同春如意瓶。此瓶异常珍罕、近期重见天日。该洋彩瓶蛰伏于法国家族宅邸阁楼之中多年，如今现世，全属机缘巧合。

现时物主将瓷瓶带到巴黎苏富比之时，仅以一个鞋盒盛载。苏富比专家Olivier Valmier忆述，当时打开此盒，马上为此瓶之精美所震慑。经更深入研究后，发现此瓶出自乾隆年间御窑名匠，仅只一例，极为重要而且珍稀无比。此瓶将于巴黎苏比6月12日之拍卖会上拍。

现时物主之祖父母从叔父身后承传获得此瓶，后者（即现藏家之曾叔祖）于1947年离世，其巴黎寓所内之物件清单上列有本品。该单并列其它数件中国及日本艺术品，包括中国瓷器、龙袍两件、一幅黄缎，以及一块收藏于雕漆盒内之铜镜。后者将于本瓶专场拍卖之后，于巴黎苏富比亚洲艺术拍卖会上拍。

《大清乾隆年制》款之清乾隆宫粉地洋彩鹤鹿同春如意瓶

估价： 500,000 – 700,000欧元（约430,000 – 610,000英镑 / 480万 -670万港元

此洋彩瓶，以及其他中国与日本艺术品在1947年前之确实来源现已无从稽考，然而现存一张收据显示，该家族前人曾于1867年巴黎万国博览会上购买一件作为婚庆贺礼用途之萨摩烧香炉，可见早对亚洲艺术兴趣浓厚。

此瓶很可能正是购于19世纪晚期，亚洲艺术品登陆巴黎，日本及中国艺术因而风靡一时。唯一与本瓶器型及纹饰相近者，现由巴黎吉美博物馆收藏，由藏家Ernest Grandidier（1833-1912）购入于相近时期，约1890年，购自巴黎亚洲艺术古董商Philippe Sichel，其活跃于19世纪晚期，乃早期于法国推动日本艺术之推手。

本瓶极其珍罕，属于孤例，制于乾隆景德镇御窑。该时期之洋彩瓷器极鲜见于市场，大部份藏于台北国立故宫博物院及世界各地其它博物馆。如此珍品现身拍场，必见藏家争相追捧：今年四月，香港蘇富比上拍一件粉红地珐琅彩盌，以2.39亿港元（约2,170万英镑）成交。

此瓶瓶身绘鹿鹤寿松，寓意福寿康宁：九只祥鹿及五只丹顶白鹤，置嶙峋奇石，古松竞奇，远处山峰烟雾弥漫，画师卓艺可见。纹饰相近之瓶，仅见一例，现收录于巴黎吉美博物馆，较此瓶之器形纹饰，虽有异曲同工之妙，但装饰手法相异。清朝年间，御花园苑饲养鹤鹿，供皇帝玩赏，而本瓶所绘风景，极有可能为乾隆御花园实景写照。鹿，通禄，为寿星坐骑，而鹤则代表长寿，仙人多乘鹤。灵芝珍稀，只长于仙岛。

据《清宫瓷器档案全集》记载，仅两例洋彩鹤鹿图如意瓶。乾隆三十年，太监海福送一对此等瓶往佛堂。乾隆三十四年，命御窑制两瓶为贺寿礼品。

A Magnificent Imperial ‘Yangcai Crane and Deer Ruyi Vase’
12 JUNE 2018 | 10:30 AM CEST | PARIS

ANCIENNE COLLECTION PARTICULIÈRE FRANÇAISE

DETAILS & CATALOGUING

Magnifique et important vase Impérial en porcelaine de la Famille Rose Marque et époque Qianlong
A FINE AND MAGNIFICENT IMPERIAL ‘YANGCAI CRANE-AND-DEER RUYI VASE’, SIX-CHARACTER IRON-RED QIANLONG SEAL MARK AND PERIOD
la panse piriforme reposant sur un pied évasé et se prolongeant gracieusement en un haut col étroit se terminant en un bulbe surmonté d’un court bord droit, le panse finement peinte d’une scène continue de daims et de grues s’égayant dans un paysage rocailleux à la végétation foisonnante, au-dessus d’une bande de palmes vivement émaillées de jaune aux détails multicolores, le col ceint de palmes vert pâle délimitées par un cerne bleu et rehaussées de perles rouge-de-fer, bordé en dessous d’un anneau doré et de têtes de ruyi en dégradés de rouge-de-fer et rehaussé d’or, le col délicatement peint de deux registres de fleurs multicolores stylisées dans leurs rinceaux feuillagés suspendant de petites perles colorées, le tout contre un fond émaillé rose finement détaillée de plumettes rose foncé, le bulbe rythmé de fleurettes sous une chute de lames se terminant en têtes de ruyi vert pâle détaillées d’enroulements vert foncé, le col ceint d’une bande de petites têtes de ruyi en rouge-de-fer séparé du bulbe par un filet doré, le pied peint de palmettes descendantes en vert pâle alternant avec des fleurettes jaunes, le tout sur un fond rose finement détaillé de plumettes rose foncé, l’intérieur et la base émaillés turquoise, la base inscrite d’une marque de règne à six caractères sigillaires en rouge-de-fer dans un carré blanc
28 cm, 11 in.
READ CONDITION REPORT
CATALOGUE NOTE
Provenance :
The wonderful vase offered in this sale was discovered accidentally in the attic of a house in the French countryside where it had been long forgotten. It had been left to the great-grandparents of the present owners by an uncle and appears among the listed contents of his Paris apartment after he passed away in 1947. It is listed along with several other Chinese and Japanese objects including other Chinese porcelains, two dragon robes, a yellow silk textile, and an unusual bronze mirror contained in a carved lacquer box offered in our Arts d’Asie sale PF1807, lot 138.

While the exact provenance of the vase

While the exact provenance of the vase and the other Chinese and Japanese pieces before 1947 cannot be traced, the receipt of a Satsuma censer acquired as a wedding gift in the 1867 Universal Exhibition in Paris by an ancestor of the family suggests an active interest in Asian art at a very early date. Similarly, this vase may well have been acquired in Paris in the late 19th century when the arrival of Asian works of art initiated a fashion for Japanese and Chinese art. Interestingly, the only other vase of this shape and similar design, now in the collection of the Musée Guimet, Paris, was acquired by Ernest Grandidier about the same time, around 1890 from Philippe Sichel, an Asian art dealer in Paris active in the late 19th century, and an early advocate of Japanese art in France.

… Where Cranes and Deer Become Immortals Who Never Age …
Regina Krahl

Throughout his life, the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-1795) would have been surrounded by auspiciousness. Architectural design, interior decoration, paintings, dress, practical utensils, all were brimming with positive symbolism that was meant both to reflect and to support the Emperor’s virtuous and benevolent governance. And this was not restricted to the inanimate world. Imperial gardens were turned into veritable tableaux vivants, where auspicious animals, birds and plants were assembled to present the Emperor with an idealized view of nature, full of good omens.

This magnificent, unique vase abounds with positive symbolism; but what at first glance looks like a purely imaginary, paradisiacal landscape composed of auspicious design elements, is probably a fairly naturalistic rendering of one of the Qianlong Emperor’s imperial pleasure parks. As early as the Western Zhou period (1046-771 BC), deer and cranes were kept in palace gardens for delectation; by the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) the sophistication of such imperial gardens was most likely hard to surpass. In the ‘Pictures of Pleasurable Activities’ (xing le tu), which depict Qing emperors at leisure, we frequently see both the Qianlong and his father, the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1723-1735) seated at ease in a garden pavilion among lush vegetation watching deer or cranes (e.g. The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Paintings by the Court Artists of the Qing Court, Shanghai, 1999, pls 10, 59).

To escape the summer heat in the capital, the Qianlong Emperor used to move to one of his summer residences around Beijing, such as the famous Imperial Hunting Preserve Mulan near Chengde in Rehe (Jehol), northeast of Beijing, a temporary summer capital, where he continued to conduct state affairs. The British envoy of King George III (r. 1760-1801), Lord Macartney (1737-1806), whom he received there, was duly impressed by the scenic beauty of the location with its wooded hills with ancient trees, dramatic rocks and a rich stock of stags and deer.

In a poem headed ‘Returning by Imperial Carriage from Mulan to the Palace, on Reaching Avoiding Summer Heat Mountain Villa I Respectfully Pay my Respects and Wish the Empress Dowager Well’, the Qianlong Emperor writes (translated by Richard Lynn):

Though written letters may say all, convenient for everyday life,
When her year has nearly come full circle I always rush to her side,
Where, paying homage, I mull over my shortcomings for more than twenty days,
And for her enjoyment wish that she be blessed with a myriad more years.
These pavilions and terraces, always a realm for cultivating longevity,
Are where cranes and deer both become immortals who never age.
Retired to the Rocky Crag Studio, I sincerely offer my congratulations and comfort,
Where window coverings are painted with the reds and greens of beautiful peaks.

Another of these summer palaces is referred to in his poem ‘Inspired by a Summer Day at the Garden of Quietude and Repose (Jingyiyuan) in the Fragrant Hills’, west of Beijing (also translated by Richard Lynn):

At a country retreat not very far, to and from it an easy trip,
Where orchid and capsicum spread and climb I open its cloudy gate.
Here viewing mountains I can better endure a half day’s fast,
Or escaping summer heat fleetingly chance the leisure of an entire day.
Cranes lead their fledglings hither to preen their young feathers,
And deer after molting’s finished grow new dappled coats.
So why must one’s study be a place where only stitched volumes are opened?
For behold, Fu’s mother earth trigrams [the broken and unbroken lines attributed to the mythological sage Fu] are recorded all over this place!

The most renowned painter at the Emperor’s court, the Italian Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), painted these cranes with their young, and was also commissioned for the sixtieth birthday of the Empress Dowager to record an auspicious white ‘long life’ deer that had been offered that year by Mongol tribes on the occasion of the autumn hunt, a painting that the Emperor himself inscribed to the effect (Wang Yaoting, Lang Shining yu Qing gong xiyang feng/New Visions at the Ch’ing Court. Giuseppe Castiglione and Western-Style Trends, catalogue of an exhibition at the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2007, pls 17, 22).

Idyllic landscapes with deer and cranes such as depicted on this vase are, however, exceedingly rare on Qing imperial porcelain and did not form part of the imperial kilns’ regular production lines. In the Qing gong ciqi dang’an quanji [Complete records on porcelain from the Qing court] ‘Yangcai ruyi vases with cranes and deer’ are recorded only twice. In the thirtieth year of Qianlong (1765) a pair of such vases is recorded by the Eunuch Haifu to have been delivered to one of the Buddha Halls (fotang) (Fig.2) ; and in the thirty-forth year of Qianlong (1769) two such vases are recorded as having been ordered as a birthday tribute, each costing three liang (taels) and eight qian, together seven liang and six qian (Fig. 3 ). ‘Buddha Halls’ were places of private worship, housing altars for domestic ancestral rites and were part of the Emperor’s private residences. Two Buddha Halls, one east, one west, were flanking the courtyard of the Yangxindian inside the Forbidden City, next to the Sanxitang, the Hall of Three Rarities, and equally formed part of the Emperor’s residence within the Yuanmingyuan (Fig. 4).

Such special orders of yangcai were sent to the Jingdezhen imperial workshops and represented the cream of the ateliers’ production. Yangcai was the imperial Jingdezhen workshop’s answer to the challenge represented by falangcai, porcelains made in Jingdezhen but exquisitely painted in imperial workshops in Beijing. Both terms mean ‘foreign colours’ and acknowledge technical exchanges with the West, both making use of the new palette, that had been enriched by enamels introduced to the Chinese workshops by European Jesuit craftsmen. Yangcai in addition often incorporates Western-style shading in its floral compositions. In both cases, pieces tended to be produced either as unique items or in pairs, but not in greater numbers, as distinct from Jingdezhen’s regular supply for the imperial court, which was executed in much larger series.

The enchanting scene on the present vase shows nine deer, some grouped as pairs, with males and females glancing at each other, one holding a lingzhi in its mouth, the females with differently coloured coats, and five cranes in flight or on the ground, in a landscape with dramatic rock formations, ancient gnarled pine trees and misty mountain peaks in the distance. Deer, lu, homophone with a word signifying happiness and prosperity, are often depicted as a mount for Shou Xing, the God of Longevity. Cranes, he, symbolizing old age already on account of their white feathers, are similarly represented carrying immortals through the air. The evergreen pine tree symbolizes long life, the rare lingzhi, a fungus believed to grow on the island abodes of the Immortals, immortality. The ruyi motif, itself derived from the shape of the ling fungus, is best known from ruyi sceptres that are shaped in this way, which were bestowed as wish-fulfilling talismans.

Only one other vase of similar design appears to be recorded, also preserved in France, from the important collection of Ernest Grandidier (1833-1912), today in the Musée Guimet, Paris, illustrated in Xavier Besse, La Chine des porcelaines, Paris, 2004, pl. 56 (fig. 1). Although very different in execution and almost certainly painted by different hands, the two vases are closely comparable in their basic form and design, and the painting manner of their respective nature scenes seems equally indebted to the style of Giuseppe Castiglione’ paintings on silk.

What makes yangcai distinctive, besides its superior quality, was an innovation of the Jingdezhen workshops under the patronage of the Qianlong Emperor: the highly complex, labour-intensive, multi-coloured brocade-like fields and borders of formal floral-and-pearl designs on a sgraffiato or mock-sgraffiato ground that were clearly devised to create an effect as opulent and luxurious as possible. The sgraffiato scrollwork, usually incised with a needle into the coloured enamel, is on the present piece and on the Grandidier vase replaced by delicately painted lines, a process perhaps even more demanding than the fine engraving itself. The pearl motifs among the floral designs, shaded to appear three-dimensional, give the whole design a rich, bejewelled aspect, and the ruyi and lanceolate borders with their highly sophisticated shading in subtle enamel tones lend the surface a rare vibrancy.

Yangcai porcelains are extremely rare outside the National Palace Museum, Taipei, whose rich collection has been the subject of a study by Liao Pao Show (Liao Baoxiu), Huali cai ci: Qianlong yangcai/Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch’ien-lung Reign, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2008. It shows the wide variety of vases decorated in a similar combination of nature scenes and ornamental brocade-like patterns on coloured grounds. Although many vases in Taipei are stylistically comparable and display very similar supporting designs, the publication documents how rarely we encounter yangcai vases with complete ‘paintings’ in handscroll format, like the auspicious landscapes on the present vase and that from the Grandidier collection. Liao illustrates one vase of similar shape, but of much smaller size, decorated with floral panels on a gold-decorated ground, with similar pale green ruyi lappets filled with scrollwork, ibid., pl. 38, identified as an order of 1742, and indeed, orders for these yangcai vases generally seem to date from a few years in the early 1740s. The successful completion of such tours de force can undoubtedly be ascribed to the ambition and expertise of Tang Ying (1682-1756), the unsurpassed kiln supervisor at Jingdezhen, who managed to push the porcelain industry at Jingdezhen to its very limits.

[临渊阁]天地一家春

蘇富比清乾隆宫粉地洋彩鹤鹿同春如意瓶

临渊阁主