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拍品专文
There appear to be no other published examples of vases of this very rare combination of form and decoration. However the form and individual decorative motifs can be seen in a number of published examples of Imperial enamels in private and museum collections.
The most closely related example is a jar from the Dexingshuwu Collection sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2006. lot 1657. Although the jar is smaller and decorated with landscape panels rather than the shou characters and lotus found on the present examples, the compressed lobed form of the jar and gilt-metal lappet border on the shoulder relate very closely. The inclusion of raised gilt metal borders with painted enamels is a feature first seen on Yongzheng enamelled objects such as the vase in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, illustrated by H. Moss, By Imperial Command, Hong Kong 1976, pl. 19. The technique was employed with much greater frequency during the Qianlong period, however, with greater emphasis on flamboyance. A melon-shaped box and cover in the Palace Museum, Beijing illustrated in Metal Bodied Enamel Ware, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong 2002, no. 208 uses this technique to create a very lavish effect.
The superb quality of the enamelling and casting would suggest that the censers were commissioned and manufactured at the imperial cloisonne workshops under the supervision of the Palace Workshops (Zaoban chu). In the 27th year of his reign, Qianlong merged the painting studio with the enamel workshop, enabling the painters to use their expertise and skill to engage in the decoration of enamel work. Whilst drawing on earlier stylistic developments of the Yongzheng and Kangxi periods which are evident in many of the decorative designs, the Qianlong reign heralded a new level of technical perfection, often incorporating Western influences. The present pair of vases remain more faithful to traditional Chinese auspicious imagery.
The bats and Shou character combine to form the wish for longevity and blessings which is reinforced by the inclusion of ruyi motifs while the lotus is representative of harmony so it is possible that these vases would have been intended as a birthday gift. A Yongzheng-marked teapot with the same combination of bats, shou characters, ruyi and lotus in the Palace Museum Collection, Beijing, is illustrated ibid., no. 187.
The most closely related example is a jar from the Dexingshuwu Collection sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2006. lot 1657. Although the jar is smaller and decorated with landscape panels rather than the shou characters and lotus found on the present examples, the compressed lobed form of the jar and gilt-metal lappet border on the shoulder relate very closely. The inclusion of raised gilt metal borders with painted enamels is a feature first seen on Yongzheng enamelled objects such as the vase in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, illustrated by H. Moss, By Imperial Command, Hong Kong 1976, pl. 19. The technique was employed with much greater frequency during the Qianlong period, however, with greater emphasis on flamboyance. A melon-shaped box and cover in the Palace Museum, Beijing illustrated in Metal Bodied Enamel Ware, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong 2002, no. 208 uses this technique to create a very lavish effect.
The superb quality of the enamelling and casting would suggest that the censers were commissioned and manufactured at the imperial cloisonne workshops under the supervision of the Palace Workshops (Zaoban chu). In the 27th year of his reign, Qianlong merged the painting studio with the enamel workshop, enabling the painters to use their expertise and skill to engage in the decoration of enamel work. Whilst drawing on earlier stylistic developments of the Yongzheng and Kangxi periods which are evident in many of the decorative designs, the Qianlong reign heralded a new level of technical perfection, often incorporating Western influences. The present pair of vases remain more faithful to traditional Chinese auspicious imagery.
The bats and Shou character combine to form the wish for longevity and blessings which is reinforced by the inclusion of ruyi motifs while the lotus is representative of harmony so it is possible that these vases would have been intended as a birthday gift. A Yongzheng-marked teapot with the same combination of bats, shou characters, ruyi and lotus in the Palace Museum Collection, Beijing, is illustrated ibid., no. 187.