A RARE LARGE CARVED RED LACQUER PEAR-SHAPED VASE, HU

QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

Details

A RARE LARGE CARVED RED LACQUER PEAR-SHAPED VASE, HU
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
Each side of the robust body carved in high relief with two ovoid panels depicting a gathering of scholars in a mountainous retreat, on one side two are seen playing weiqi while others converse in an open pavilion, and on the reverse several study a scroll painting, within petal borders reserved on a dense ground of foliate scroll interspersed with bats and archaistic dragon scrolls, all between bands of stylized cicadas at the mouth rim and just above further foliate scroll on the foot, the handles in the form of foliate scroll dragons
18½ in. (47 cm.) high, Japanese wood box

Provenance

Given by the Japanese Emperor, Taisho, on 14 April 1927, to the then Prime Minister Sho Sanmi Kun Itto (title) Inukai Tsuyoshi Kinki, by repute.

Lot Essay

The present vase is remarkably light in weight for its size, suggesting that the skeletal material is likely to be cloth rather than a heavier material such as metal or wood. The carving is unusually deep and crisp and the design especially complex. Compare with a brush pot in the Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, carved from equally thick lacquer with scholars and attendants within gardens, illustrated in Hai-wai yi-chen (Chinese Art in Overseas Collections - Lacquerware), Taipei, 1987, p. 166, no. 163. See, also, a bottle vase with medallions carved around the body enclosing figures in landscapes reserved on a dense floral ground, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, ibid., p. 169, no. 166. Compare two smaller hu carved with figural scenes around the body sold in these rooms, 24 March 2004, lot 14 and 21 September 2004, lot 83.

More from Fine Chinese Ceramics And Works Of Art

View All