- 36
A MOTHER-OF-PEARL INLAID 'PAINTING OF BUDDHA' LACQUER DISH BY JIANG QIANLI, QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD
Estimate
200,000 - 250,000 HKD
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Description
- mother of pearl and lacquer
the interior decorated in mother-of-pearl and gold foil on a dark brown ground with a scene of a scholar's studio, the seated scholar depicted gazing at a painting of the Buddha held by his attendant, all within a stylised border repeated below the mouthrim, the plain lacquered underside inlaid with two characters in seal script reading Qianli within a square
Catalogue Note
This dish is striking for the precision and intricacy of its inlaid decoration, which depicts a scholar seated on a mat in an elegant studio. Thousands of minute pieces of cut and crushed abalone shells of varied colour tones, in addition to gold and silver foil, were perfectly arranged to create sharp contrasts. The linearity of the composition and the perspective achieved through the position of the screen and desk suggest that it was inspired by wood-block prints and paintings of the period.
The finest inlaid lacquer wares produced in the late Ming and early Qing dynasty are attributed to Jiang Qianli, also known as Qiushui. Although his active years are uncertain and biographical information regarding him is scattered, by 1700 Jiang appears to have been already renowned amongst scholars for his skills. For example, Wang Shizhen (1634-1711) in Chibei outan [Random Chats North of the Lake] notes that "those that are particularly good at one art form in recent times include such people as Pu Zhongqian for bamboo carving and Jiang Qianli for pearl inlay…". His complete control of his medium and great creativity ensured his fame, setting a standard for the future.
A pair of dishes of this type, in the Yangzhou Museum, is illustrated in Yangzhou guan cang wenwu jinghua [Cultural essentials from the collection of the Yangzhou Museum], Nanjing, 2001, pl. 138, and another dish is offered in this sale, lot 37. See also a set of four dishes of this type, but with a further scroll on the well, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Selected Gems of Cultural Relics. Newly Collected in the Palace Museum in the Last Fifty Years, Beijing, 1999, pl. 21; one with floral sprays on the well, from the Baoyizhai collection, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong exhibition 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1993, cat. no. 95, and sold in these rooms, 8th April 2014, lot 48.
The finest inlaid lacquer wares produced in the late Ming and early Qing dynasty are attributed to Jiang Qianli, also known as Qiushui. Although his active years are uncertain and biographical information regarding him is scattered, by 1700 Jiang appears to have been already renowned amongst scholars for his skills. For example, Wang Shizhen (1634-1711) in Chibei outan [Random Chats North of the Lake] notes that "those that are particularly good at one art form in recent times include such people as Pu Zhongqian for bamboo carving and Jiang Qianli for pearl inlay…". His complete control of his medium and great creativity ensured his fame, setting a standard for the future.
A pair of dishes of this type, in the Yangzhou Museum, is illustrated in Yangzhou guan cang wenwu jinghua [Cultural essentials from the collection of the Yangzhou Museum], Nanjing, 2001, pl. 138, and another dish is offered in this sale, lot 37. See also a set of four dishes of this type, but with a further scroll on the well, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Selected Gems of Cultural Relics. Newly Collected in the Palace Museum in the Last Fifty Years, Beijing, 1999, pl. 21; one with floral sprays on the well, from the Baoyizhai collection, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong exhibition 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1993, cat. no. 95, and sold in these rooms, 8th April 2014, lot 48.