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Lot Essay
A very similar panel in the Pierre Uldry Collection is illustrated in Chinesisches Cloisonné - die Sammlung Pierre Uldry, and was acquired from Sotheby's London, 2 November 1984, lot 405.
The mark on the present panel, De cheng, belongs to a cloisonné enamel workshop in Beijing. A cloisonné enamel vase from teh Decheng workshop in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 43 - Metal Bodied Enamel Ware, p. 175, no. 167. The pieces from this workshop are of very high quality and were often commissioned by the Palace.
Sitting on top of the hill on Jade Island, the famous White Dagoba is a 16th century masterpiece of Buddhist art.
It was built in 1651 on the former site of the Palace in the Moon at the suggestion of a famous Tibetan lama priest named Momhan. Emperor Shunzhi, the first of the Qing Dynasty agreed to the construction as a gesture of devotion to the Buddhist belief and a desire for unification among China's various ethnics. The dagoba was damaged in an earthquake and reconstructed on two occasions. It stands 35.9 metres high, resting on a square base built of huge stone slabs, and is topped by two bronze parasols, with 14 bronze bells hanging around them. It resembles a huge umbrella resting on a densely-wooded island. Since it was the highest point in old Beijing, it served as a vantage point of military significance.
There is no entrance but an intriguing possibility is that a red emblem on the body of the tower is an opening which was sealed when the tower was completed. It is believed that Tibetan Buddhist scriptures, Lama robes and other sacred articles are stored inside. Sutras in the Tibetan language are carved inside the front gate.
During the reign of Emperor QianLong (1736-1796), a large-scale project was carried out over 30 years to make BeiHai an even grander imperial garden. He spent a large amount of money and mobilized enormous manpower to redecorate it entirely. It was during this time that the five pavilions linked with zigzaging bridges were built at the northwestern shore of the lake. The famous double-sided Nine Dragon Screen was also added during this period.
The project included many other pavilions, halls, galleries and terraces, which made the park even more harmonious in design. A description by the Emperor of the scenery and the process of reconstruction was inscribed on a stone stele that is mounted in a pavilion at the foot of the hill (YinSheng Pavilion). The inscription is in four languages - Han, Manchurian, Mongolian and Tibetan.
The garden now includes a variety of important imperial family shrines and the Qianlong Emperor's resting and studying quarters, of which he had many, including, the Temple of Revealing Happiness (Chanfusi), the Little Western Heaven (Xiaoxitian), the Hall for Gazing at the Water (Chengguantang) and the Tranquil Heart Study (Jingxinzhai).
The White Dagoba as we see it today was rebuilt in 1741. The basic layout of BeiHai now is much as it was after this reconstruction and remains essentially as it was after Qianlong Emperor's additions.
The mark on the present panel, De cheng, belongs to a cloisonné enamel workshop in Beijing. A cloisonné enamel vase from teh Decheng workshop in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 43 - Metal Bodied Enamel Ware, p. 175, no. 167. The pieces from this workshop are of very high quality and were often commissioned by the Palace.
Sitting on top of the hill on Jade Island, the famous White Dagoba is a 16th century masterpiece of Buddhist art.
It was built in 1651 on the former site of the Palace in the Moon at the suggestion of a famous Tibetan lama priest named Momhan. Emperor Shunzhi, the first of the Qing Dynasty agreed to the construction as a gesture of devotion to the Buddhist belief and a desire for unification among China's various ethnics. The dagoba was damaged in an earthquake and reconstructed on two occasions. It stands 35.9 metres high, resting on a square base built of huge stone slabs, and is topped by two bronze parasols, with 14 bronze bells hanging around them. It resembles a huge umbrella resting on a densely-wooded island. Since it was the highest point in old Beijing, it served as a vantage point of military significance.
There is no entrance but an intriguing possibility is that a red emblem on the body of the tower is an opening which was sealed when the tower was completed. It is believed that Tibetan Buddhist scriptures, Lama robes and other sacred articles are stored inside. Sutras in the Tibetan language are carved inside the front gate.
During the reign of Emperor QianLong (1736-1796), a large-scale project was carried out over 30 years to make BeiHai an even grander imperial garden. He spent a large amount of money and mobilized enormous manpower to redecorate it entirely. It was during this time that the five pavilions linked with zigzaging bridges were built at the northwestern shore of the lake. The famous double-sided Nine Dragon Screen was also added during this period.
The project included many other pavilions, halls, galleries and terraces, which made the park even more harmonious in design. A description by the Emperor of the scenery and the process of reconstruction was inscribed on a stone stele that is mounted in a pavilion at the foot of the hill (YinSheng Pavilion). The inscription is in four languages - Han, Manchurian, Mongolian and Tibetan.
The garden now includes a variety of important imperial family shrines and the Qianlong Emperor's resting and studying quarters, of which he had many, including, the Temple of Revealing Happiness (Chanfusi), the Little Western Heaven (Xiaoxitian), the Hall for Gazing at the Water (Chengguantang) and the Tranquil Heart Study (Jingxinzhai).
The White Dagoba as we see it today was rebuilt in 1741. The basic layout of BeiHai now is much as it was after this reconstruction and remains essentially as it was after Qianlong Emperor's additions.