A FINELY ENAMELLED PINK-GROUND YANGCAI BOX AND COVER QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD | 清乾隆 宮粉地洋彩錦上添花番蓮紋長方蓋盒

Notable for the meticulous rendering of floral blooms and lush foliage against a pink ground accentuated with feathery scrollwork, the present box and cover possibly belong to a select group of porcelain produced at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen for the Qianlong Emperor in the early years of his reign.

Known as yangcai (Western colours) in Chinese, these wares are characterised by an unmistakable influence of Western decorative art absorbed by Jingdezhen potters in the 17th and 18th centuries. The successful synthesis of traditional Chinese elements with Western techniques and other exotic elements is especially evident in not only the design of the current box and cover but also the skilful rendering of the shaded tones of the enamels. Every element of the design, from the highly stylised floral blooms from which luxuriant foliage stems to the Rococo-inspired pearl-like roundels, is richly imbued with a three-dimensional quality achieved through delicate and skilful shading.

The sgraffiato scrolling fronds against which the floral blooms are painted also undoubtedly contribute to the opulence of the box and cover. Introduced to ceramic production during the Qianlong period to convey the impression of a rich brocade, this time-consuming and labour-intensive technique - sometimes executed with a fine needle - required impeccable craftsmanship and was often restricted to very special pieces.

No closely related box and cover appears to have been published. A Qianlong seal mark and period circular pink-ground famille-rose box and cover, painted with varying floral sprays against an incised sgraffiato ground, formerly from the collection of Ernest Grandidier, is now in the Musée Guimet, Paris, no. G 5540, and published in Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt Daisy, Oriental Ceramics : The World's Great Collections, Tokyo, vol. III, 1975. fig. 123.

洋彩蓋盒，紋飾細膩巧緻，百花綻放，卷葉豐柔，應屬乾隆朝早期景德鎮御窰廠所造一批洋彩瓷。

「洋彩」瓷，創於十七至十八世紀景德鎮官窰，深得西洋裝飾藝術風格影響。本品可見中西元素、風格之融合，以明暗技法繪傳統中式紋飾，卷葉紋宛若豐羽，托襯嬌蕊，間綴圓潤彩珠，取材洛可可素材，明暗對比，整體更顯立體且新穎精緻。

宮粉彩錦地，繁複精細，與番蓮紋相映，增添華貴之氣。「錦地」始於乾隆窰，傚擬織錦繁麗之美，耗時費工，需以細針緩緩錐之，突顯匠人高藝。

著錄未見相類作例。參考一件乾隆窰粉地粉彩圓形蓋盒，綴花卉紋於錦地之上，出自 Ernest Grandidier 舊藏，現存巴黎吉美博物館，藏品編號 G 5540，錄於 Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt，《Oriental Ceramics : The World's Great Collections》，東京，卷3，1975年，圖123。