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Lot Essay
The current poem titled apricot blossom, is one of the twenty-four poems that the Qianlong Emperor composed in the first lunar month of the tenth year of his reign (1744) to accompany an album of twenty-four leaves each depicting a different flower (fig.1).
The poem may be translated as:
Flame-like are its blossoms, growing fruits aplenty;
The spring garden in the second month is riotous with clouds of red.
On a sheet of fine silk, is revealed this marvellous scene,
How in Weishan did Zhiqin enlightenment attain*?
*Zhiqin, a Tang Dynasty monk, allegedly attained enlightenment after witnessing the plum blossoms in Weishan. Here Qianlong Emperor is questioning how he could have attained enlightenment after witnessing such beauty.
A similar vase but with undecorated lug-handles, dating to the Qianlong period, is illustrated in Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille rose Decoration, vol. 39, The Complete Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 102, no. 88 (fig.2).
The poem may be translated as:
Flame-like are its blossoms, growing fruits aplenty;
The spring garden in the second month is riotous with clouds of red.
On a sheet of fine silk, is revealed this marvellous scene,
How in Weishan did Zhiqin enlightenment attain*?
*Zhiqin, a Tang Dynasty monk, allegedly attained enlightenment after witnessing the plum blossoms in Weishan. Here Qianlong Emperor is questioning how he could have attained enlightenment after witnessing such beauty.
A similar vase but with undecorated lug-handles, dating to the Qianlong period, is illustrated in Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille rose Decoration, vol. 39, The Complete Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 102, no. 88 (fig.2).