.jpg?w=1)
拍品專文
Previously sold Sotheby's Hong Kong, 15 May 1990, lot 151.
The present vase is unique, as no other pear-shaped vase with this design appears to be published. The closest example is the 18th-century blue and white vase painted with archaistic chilong dragons leaping amidst dense foliate scroll, sold twice in our New York Rooms, 27 November 1991, lot 392, and 2 December 1993, lot 327. The design of dragons on a ground of floral scrolls is quite unusual, as dragons were mainly associated with cloud or fire scrolls with flaming pearls on the background.
Pear-shaped vases decorated with five-clawed dragons have been excavated from the late Yongle stratum at Jingdezhen, such as the one illustrated in Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods, Hong Kong, 1989, no. 43. In this case, the dragons are among clouds, but the neck of a Xuande monk's cap ewer also excavated from the Imperial kiln site (illustrated Ibid., no. 82) is painted with dragons among lotus scrolls in a style that obviously provided the inspiration for the Qianlong pear-shaped vase. Another Xuande piece, a blue and white stembowl, similarly decorated with striding dragons among lotus scrolls, was included in the Special Exhibition of Dragon-Motif Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, 1983, Catalogue, no. 18.
The dragon is perhaps the most important motif in the decorative repertory in Chinese ceramics, being the symbol of Imperial power, and as mentioned above, the present vase takes its stylistic treatments from the pre-Qing dynasties, combining various elements to enhance the best characteristics of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing renditions. During the Song and Yuan periods, the dragon motif was defined as an archaistic chilong type with three large claws and a sinuous snake-like body which was given maximum impact by being set in relative isolation on a plain white-glazed ground. During the early Ming period, the dragon remained a dominant single visual entity despite the inclusion of surrounding decoration such as clouds, flames and foliage. In the Qing dynasty, the dragon becomes ever more boldly detailed and defined in its facial features and more elaborately represented in its general ferocity and mythological power, as evident in the vivacious depiction of the dragons on the present vase.
(US$90,000-120,000)
The present vase is unique, as no other pear-shaped vase with this design appears to be published. The closest example is the 18th-century blue and white vase painted with archaistic chilong dragons leaping amidst dense foliate scroll, sold twice in our New York Rooms, 27 November 1991, lot 392, and 2 December 1993, lot 327. The design of dragons on a ground of floral scrolls is quite unusual, as dragons were mainly associated with cloud or fire scrolls with flaming pearls on the background.
Pear-shaped vases decorated with five-clawed dragons have been excavated from the late Yongle stratum at Jingdezhen, such as the one illustrated in Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods, Hong Kong, 1989, no. 43. In this case, the dragons are among clouds, but the neck of a Xuande monk's cap ewer also excavated from the Imperial kiln site (illustrated Ibid., no. 82) is painted with dragons among lotus scrolls in a style that obviously provided the inspiration for the Qianlong pear-shaped vase. Another Xuande piece, a blue and white stembowl, similarly decorated with striding dragons among lotus scrolls, was included in the Special Exhibition of Dragon-Motif Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, 1983, Catalogue, no. 18.
The dragon is perhaps the most important motif in the decorative repertory in Chinese ceramics, being the symbol of Imperial power, and as mentioned above, the present vase takes its stylistic treatments from the pre-Qing dynasties, combining various elements to enhance the best characteristics of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing renditions. During the Song and Yuan periods, the dragon motif was defined as an archaistic chilong type with three large claws and a sinuous snake-like body which was given maximum impact by being set in relative isolation on a plain white-glazed ground. During the early Ming period, the dragon remained a dominant single visual entity despite the inclusion of surrounding decoration such as clouds, flames and foliage. In the Qing dynasty, the dragon becomes ever more boldly detailed and defined in its facial features and more elaborately represented in its general ferocity and mythological power, as evident in the vivacious depiction of the dragons on the present vase.
(US$90,000-120,000)