QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

Details

A RARE IMPERIAL GILT-LACQUERED WOOD ARCHAISTIC VESSEL AND COVER, GUI
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
The rounded rectangular body is carved around the sides with stylized archaistic motifs interrupted on each side with an oval serpentine inlay and is flanked by a pair of loop handles emerging from animal masks. The tall domed foot is similarly decorated with stylized archaistic motifs, as is the cover which is decorated on top with a foliate dragon amidst clouds below four upright shaped flanges. The interiors and the base are covered in bright red lacquer. The interior of the cover has a gilded, incised Kangxi four-character mark in seal script, and the base of the vessel has a similar Jiaqing four-character mark.
11 5/8 in. (29.5 cm.) across handles

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Lot Essay

An almost identical gilt-lacquered wood gui from the Qing Court Collection, bearing both a Qianlong and a Guangxu reign mark, is illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, The Life of Emperor Qianlong, Macau Museum of Art, 2002, p. 63, no. 11 (4). Also included in the catalogue are similarly decorated gilt-lacquer ritual food vessels of different shapes (pp. 61-62), and a white-glazed ceramic gui impressed with a Qianlong reign mark. It is noted that ritual vessels of this type were made in bronze, ceramic and gilt-lacquered wood throughout the Qing dynasty, and it is likely that they were re-used by successive emperors, which would account for the appearance of different reign marks on the same vessel. The author also notes that the gilt-lacquered wood examples were produced both with and without jade inlay, and that the inlaid examples were reserved for Imperial use.

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