Lot Essay
No other teapot of this design appears to have been published. Not only is it very rare to find famille rose vessels decorated on a gold ground, but it is also unusual to find a vessel in such good condition where all of the gold ground has remained intact, as the gilding is soft and easily lost through wear.
It is most likely that the makers of the present Jiaqing teapot found inspiration from a small selection of Imperial Qianlong wares, similarly enamelled on gold grounds and with gilded reign marks inscribed over gold-enamelled bases. The closest comparison is a vase included in the Special Exhibition of K'ang-Hsi, Yung-Cheng and Ch'ien-Lung Porcelain Ware From the Ch'ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum, Taibei, 1986, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 118. The motif on the baluster vase from Taiwan is very similar to that on the teapot. The background is entirely covered in gold, as is the base where, like on the teapot, the seal mark is inscribed in gilt over the gold ground.
Another gilded Qianlong mark inscribed within a square over gold ground is seen on a moulded porcelain 'Wheel of Law' emblem, also in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, illustrated ibid., no. 109; while an identical emblem with a gilded Qianlong seal mark also on gold ground is illustrated in Qing dai ci qi shang jian, Qian Zhenzong (ed.), Hong Kong, 1994, pl. 231.
It is most likely that the makers of the present Jiaqing teapot found inspiration from a small selection of Imperial Qianlong wares, similarly enamelled on gold grounds and with gilded reign marks inscribed over gold-enamelled bases. The closest comparison is a vase included in the Special Exhibition of K'ang-Hsi, Yung-Cheng and Ch'ien-Lung Porcelain Ware From the Ch'ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum, Taibei, 1986, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 118. The motif on the baluster vase from Taiwan is very similar to that on the teapot. The background is entirely covered in gold, as is the base where, like on the teapot, the seal mark is inscribed in gilt over the gold ground.
Another gilded Qianlong mark inscribed within a square over gold ground is seen on a moulded porcelain 'Wheel of Law' emblem, also in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, illustrated ibid., no. 109; while an identical emblem with a gilded Qianlong seal mark also on gold ground is illustrated in Qing dai ci qi shang jian, Qian Zhenzong (ed.), Hong Kong, 1994, pl. 231.