- 100
Importante gourde en porcelaine à fond bleu à décor en or et argent Dynastie Qing, époque Qianlong
Estimate
100,000 - 150,000 EUR
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Description
- porcelain
de forme ronde, le corps aplati reposant sur un court pied légèrement évasé, l'épaule rehaussée de dragons chilong formant de petites anses, le col en trompette révélant un intérieur turquoise, chaque face délicatement peinte à l'or et à l'argent de cinq chauves-souris volant parmi les pêches, grenades et citrons digités (sanduo) sur fond bleu, la base non glaçurée et peinte en brun
Provenance
Acquired from M. M. Tournet, Paris (active in the 1930s-1950s), by the husband of the present owner.
Condition
The gourd is in very good overall condition. It is very slightly leaning to one side. There are minute imperfections scattered across the turquoise glaze inside rim and neck. There is light wear to the gilding along the rim, parts of both handles, and to some parts of the body, particularly one bat to the centre of one side. There are very light scratches to the blue glaze on the centre of the one side. The blue glaze is a wonderfully rich blue tone and more saturated than the catalogue illustration suggests.The silver painting is oxidized, and very detailed. The glaze and foot unglazed, the sunk base covered with a brown slip.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
This flask is remarkable for its highly unusual design depicting the Three Abundances (sanduo) which has been rendered in a striking and exceptionally rare palette of gold and silver against a vivid blue ground. It is a testament to the creativity of craftsmen working during the Qianlong period in exploring and perfecting enamelling techniques to cater to the emperor’s taste for the innovative and the exotic while remaining rooted in antiquity.
The combination of a dark ground with gilt or silver may have been inspired by European enamelling techniques such as basse-taille, whereby a dark-coloured metal surface is engraved or carved in low-relief and then covered with translucent vitreous enamel. This technique dramatises the play of light and shade and also gives the object a brilliance of tone. Gilt-decorated designs were painted on a number of monochrome glazes but darker coloured monochrome glazes provided the perfect ground for the shimmering gilt-painted decoration that enhanced the luxuriousness of the porcelain-bodied ware. The rarity of painted silver on porcelains suggests that the medium may have been difficult to control.
Flasks of similar form decorated with the Three Abundances (sanduo) are also known painted in famille-rose and doucai enamels, such as a Qianlong mark and period flask from the collection of the Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th November 1982, lot 204, and Christie’s Hong Kong, 8th October 1990, lot 525; and another from the British Rail Pension Fund, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 16th May 1989, lot 87. A moonflask similarly freely painted with fruiting branches of persimmon, finger citrons and peaches circled by bats in a subtle palette of famille rose enamels, was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29th October 2000, lot ?. However, no other porcelain decorated with the same subject in gold and silver appears to have been published, although a baluster vase decorated in a similar painterly style in gilt and silver with a bird perched on a flowering prunus tree, with a Qianlong mark and of the period, from the Huaihaitang collection, was included in the exhibition Ethereal Elegance, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2007, cat. no. 80; and a miniature blue-ground bottle vase painted with lotus scrolls in silver and gilt, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the Museum’s exhibition Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch’ien-lung Reign, Taipei, 2008, cat. no. 26.
The combination of a dark ground with gilt or silver may have been inspired by European enamelling techniques such as basse-taille, whereby a dark-coloured metal surface is engraved or carved in low-relief and then covered with translucent vitreous enamel. This technique dramatises the play of light and shade and also gives the object a brilliance of tone. Gilt-decorated designs were painted on a number of monochrome glazes but darker coloured monochrome glazes provided the perfect ground for the shimmering gilt-painted decoration that enhanced the luxuriousness of the porcelain-bodied ware. The rarity of painted silver on porcelains suggests that the medium may have been difficult to control.
Flasks of similar form decorated with the Three Abundances (sanduo) are also known painted in famille-rose and doucai enamels, such as a Qianlong mark and period flask from the collection of the Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th November 1982, lot 204, and Christie’s Hong Kong, 8th October 1990, lot 525; and another from the British Rail Pension Fund, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 16th May 1989, lot 87. A moonflask similarly freely painted with fruiting branches of persimmon, finger citrons and peaches circled by bats in a subtle palette of famille rose enamels, was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29th October 2000, lot ?. However, no other porcelain decorated with the same subject in gold and silver appears to have been published, although a baluster vase decorated in a similar painterly style in gilt and silver with a bird perched on a flowering prunus tree, with a Qianlong mark and of the period, from the Huaihaitang collection, was included in the exhibition Ethereal Elegance, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2007, cat. no. 80; and a miniature blue-ground bottle vase painted with lotus scrolls in silver and gilt, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the Museum’s exhibition Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch’ien-lung Reign, Taipei, 2008, cat. no. 26.