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拍品專文
Lieutenant-General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers was born in 1827 in Yorkshire to a wealthy land-owning family. In 1880 he inherited the large Rivers estate and name from his great uncle, as well as a steady annual income, and lived the remainder of his life as an independent wealthy landowner. In 1882 Pitt Rivers was appointed the first Inspector of Ancient Monuments and in 1881-2 he was President of the Anthropological Institute. He died at the age of seventy-three.
During his time in the military Pitt Rivers' developed a fascination in the history of firearms that inspired his interest in collecting archaeological and ethnographic objects. It is estimated that his personal collection numbered some 20,000 objects, some of which were donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford in 1882, while a sizeable collection remained on display at his personal museum in Farnham, Dorset.
There are three major reasons why deer provided a popular subject in the decoration of Chinese porcelain, and indeed paintings. The first reason relates to the fact that the word for deer is pronounced lu, and is therefore a homophone for the word for an official salary or gift. Thus the inclusion of deer is regarded as an auspicious wish for prosperity and a successful official career. The second reason for their inclusion views deer as auspicious in another way. The deer is one of the familiars of Shoulao, the Star God of Longevity, and so is, by extension, also a symbol of longevity. The depiction of many deer - usually described as bai lu (100 deer) - not only provides a pleasing design, but also multiplies the auspicious wishes.
The third reason for the popularity of deer in Chinese art is associated with one of the favourite imperial pastimes - the creation of gardens and hunting parks, which were frequently stocked with deer. Even the last rulers of both the early Bronze Age dynasties of Xia and Shang are traditionally believed to have expended considerable sums from the treasury on the construction of gardens and parks. The first Qin dynasty emperor, Qin Shihuangdi (221-207 BC), is credited with the initial design for the Shanglin Park to the west and south-west of the capital Chang'an (modern Xi'an), and the Upper Grove Park near his palace was used partly as a leisure park and partly as a hunting park. The Han dynasty Emperor Wudi (140-87 BC) expanded this park and had artificial lakes created within it. Some of the pools were specially dug for the deer, which were among the animals and plants brought to the imperial park from all over China (see N. Titley and F. Wood, Oriental Gardens, British Library, London, 1991, p. 72). The second Sui dynasty emperor (AD 598-618) ordered the construction of a similar park outside his capital at Luoyang, into which he too brought deer. The Northern Song emperor Huizong (AD 1101-26) was another enthusiastic builder of gardens, and the imperial garden at Kaifeng contained many different types of deer among its varied animal inhabitants. The Southern Song emperors also enjoyed gardens at their capital at Hangzhou, and Marco Polo's Travels mentions a large park on the shores of West Lake containing many types of deer. Thus deer became well established in Chinese imperial gardens for their visual attractiveness and interesting variations, as well as to provide sport for imperial hunting parties.
While deer quite frequently appear within the designs on bowls and other open-wares in the Ming dynasty, large wucai jars decorated with deer, like the current example are very rare. However, interestingly, these Ming dynasty jars seem likely to have provided the inspiration for the well-known famille rose enamelled deer vases of the Qing dynasty. There is a Ming dynasty wucai jar similar to the current example in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (illustrated in Minji Meihin Zuroku, vol. II, Tokyo, 1978, pl. 101). Another Wanli wucai deer jar is in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum (illustrated in Special Exhibition - Jixiang - Auspicious Motifs in Chinese Art, Tokyo National Museum, 1998, p. 266, no. 229). A further example in a Japanese private collection is illustrated by Ryoichi Fujioka and Gakuji Hasebe in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 14, Ming, Shogakukan, Tokyo, 1976, p. 307, fig. 218. A similar jar from the Grandidier Collection is housed in the Musée Guimet, Paris (illustrated in Oriental Ceramics - The World's Great Collections, vol. 7, Musée Guimet, Tokyo, 1981, colour plate 26), while another from the Schlossmuseum, Berlin, was exhibited in Ausstellung Chinesischer Kunst, Preussische Akademie der Kunste, Berlin, 1929, no. 739. A slightly smaller jar was sold at Bonhams in July 2005, lot. 157.
During his time in the military Pitt Rivers' developed a fascination in the history of firearms that inspired his interest in collecting archaeological and ethnographic objects. It is estimated that his personal collection numbered some 20,000 objects, some of which were donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford in 1882, while a sizeable collection remained on display at his personal museum in Farnham, Dorset.
There are three major reasons why deer provided a popular subject in the decoration of Chinese porcelain, and indeed paintings. The first reason relates to the fact that the word for deer is pronounced lu, and is therefore a homophone for the word for an official salary or gift. Thus the inclusion of deer is regarded as an auspicious wish for prosperity and a successful official career. The second reason for their inclusion views deer as auspicious in another way. The deer is one of the familiars of Shoulao, the Star God of Longevity, and so is, by extension, also a symbol of longevity. The depiction of many deer - usually described as bai lu (100 deer) - not only provides a pleasing design, but also multiplies the auspicious wishes.
The third reason for the popularity of deer in Chinese art is associated with one of the favourite imperial pastimes - the creation of gardens and hunting parks, which were frequently stocked with deer. Even the last rulers of both the early Bronze Age dynasties of Xia and Shang are traditionally believed to have expended considerable sums from the treasury on the construction of gardens and parks. The first Qin dynasty emperor, Qin Shihuangdi (221-207 BC), is credited with the initial design for the Shanglin Park to the west and south-west of the capital Chang'an (modern Xi'an), and the Upper Grove Park near his palace was used partly as a leisure park and partly as a hunting park. The Han dynasty Emperor Wudi (140-87 BC) expanded this park and had artificial lakes created within it. Some of the pools were specially dug for the deer, which were among the animals and plants brought to the imperial park from all over China (see N. Titley and F. Wood, Oriental Gardens, British Library, London, 1991, p. 72). The second Sui dynasty emperor (AD 598-618) ordered the construction of a similar park outside his capital at Luoyang, into which he too brought deer. The Northern Song emperor Huizong (AD 1101-26) was another enthusiastic builder of gardens, and the imperial garden at Kaifeng contained many different types of deer among its varied animal inhabitants. The Southern Song emperors also enjoyed gardens at their capital at Hangzhou, and Marco Polo's Travels mentions a large park on the shores of West Lake containing many types of deer. Thus deer became well established in Chinese imperial gardens for their visual attractiveness and interesting variations, as well as to provide sport for imperial hunting parties.
While deer quite frequently appear within the designs on bowls and other open-wares in the Ming dynasty, large wucai jars decorated with deer, like the current example are very rare. However, interestingly, these Ming dynasty jars seem likely to have provided the inspiration for the well-known famille rose enamelled deer vases of the Qing dynasty. There is a Ming dynasty wucai jar similar to the current example in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (illustrated in Minji Meihin Zuroku, vol. II, Tokyo, 1978, pl. 101). Another Wanli wucai deer jar is in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum (illustrated in Special Exhibition - Jixiang - Auspicious Motifs in Chinese Art, Tokyo National Museum, 1998, p. 266, no. 229). A further example in a Japanese private collection is illustrated by Ryoichi Fujioka and Gakuji Hasebe in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 14, Ming, Shogakukan, Tokyo, 1976, p. 307, fig. 218. A similar jar from the Grandidier Collection is housed in the Musée Guimet, Paris (illustrated in Oriental Ceramics - The World's Great Collections, vol. 7, Musée Guimet, Tokyo, 1981, colour plate 26), while another from the Schlossmuseum, Berlin, was exhibited in Ausstellung Chinesischer Kunst, Preussische Akademie der Kunste, Berlin, 1929, no. 739. A slightly smaller jar was sold at Bonhams in July 2005, lot. 157.