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Lot Essay
The conch was used by the Manchu clan for military purposes from the time of the Jin dynasty (1115-1234), when it was blown as a signal to troops to advance or to halt. However, the conch shell is also an important emblem in Buddhism, symbolizing the voice of the Buddha and the transmission of his teachings, and by the Qing dynasty, the conch had become significant in religious rituals.
Conches were displayed in the Buddhist temples inside the Forbidden City, for use not only as musical instruments but also as containers for holy water. The Qianlong Emperor had a particular devotion to Tibetan Buddhism, and their presence attest to the strong association of the conch as a symbol of both sacred ritual and imperial power. See, for example, a conch shell from the Potala Palace Collection, catalogued as a "trumpet" and bestowed as a gift upon the Dalai Lama by the Qianlong Emperor, which was included in the catalogue for the exhibition Treasures from Snow Mountains, Gems of Tibetan Cultural Relics, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2001, no. 56.
The fascination with the symbolism of the conch led to its imitation in other materials, such as jade, cloisonné and porcelain, and its complex shape would have been particularly challenging to model. A similar vessel from the collection of Y. C. Chen was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 May 2013, lot 1910. For earlier, Yuan dynasty examples of porcelain conch-form vessels, with underglaze-blue or underglaze-red decoration, see J. T. Peralta, Kayamanan. Pottery and Ceramics from the Arturo de Santos Collection, Manila, 1982, p. 112. no. 49.
A very similar or possibly the same conch-form water receptacle is illustrated in the catalogue, Exhibition of Chinese Arts, C. T. Loo & Co., New York, 1 November 1941-30 April 1942, no. 789.
Conches were displayed in the Buddhist temples inside the Forbidden City, for use not only as musical instruments but also as containers for holy water. The Qianlong Emperor had a particular devotion to Tibetan Buddhism, and their presence attest to the strong association of the conch as a symbol of both sacred ritual and imperial power. See, for example, a conch shell from the Potala Palace Collection, catalogued as a "trumpet" and bestowed as a gift upon the Dalai Lama by the Qianlong Emperor, which was included in the catalogue for the exhibition Treasures from Snow Mountains, Gems of Tibetan Cultural Relics, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2001, no. 56.
The fascination with the symbolism of the conch led to its imitation in other materials, such as jade, cloisonné and porcelain, and its complex shape would have been particularly challenging to model. A similar vessel from the collection of Y. C. Chen was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 May 2013, lot 1910. For earlier, Yuan dynasty examples of porcelain conch-form vessels, with underglaze-blue or underglaze-red decoration, see J. T. Peralta, Kayamanan. Pottery and Ceramics from the Arturo de Santos Collection, Manila, 1982, p. 112. no. 49.
A very similar or possibly the same conch-form water receptacle is illustrated in the catalogue, Exhibition of Chinese Arts, C. T. Loo & Co., New York, 1 November 1941-30 April 1942, no. 789.