J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art / New York City, New York
MenuPast Exhibition
ELEGANTLY MADE: Art for the Chinese Literati
March 13-27, 2020
27.
AN IMPERIAL MOULDED GOURD JAR AND COVER
Qianlong shangwan mark and of the period (1736-1795)
the jar of slightly compressed spherical form decorated in relief with a continuous frieze of foliate scroll bearing Indian lotus blossoms and pointed leaves on looping tendrils above a narrow band of overlapping lotus petals rising from the edge of the rounded ring foot, the wide mouth with a flat inner flange and rounded lip made of boxwood, closely fitted to the domed cover decorated with petal lappets radiating from the nipple-shaped knop made of natural gourd stem, the surface of even, warm, reddish-brown color, the interior of the jar and cover coated with black lacquer, the recessed base moulded with the imperial mark: Qianlong shangwan (For the amusement of Qianlong emperor).
Diameter 4 3⁄4 inches (12.2 cm)
Provenance
Collection of He Yutang, Dongsi Yantong hutong, Beijing, late 1950’s
Collection of Wang Shixiang (1914-2009), Beijing
China Guardian, Beijing, Treasures of the Twin-Pine Studio: Works of Art Collected by Wang Shixiang and Yuan Quanyou, 26 November 2003, lot 1232
Shuisongshi Shanfang Collection
Published
Wang, Shuo hulu, (The Charms of the Gourd), Hong Kong, 1993, p. 207, pl. 26
Wang, ‘Tan pao qi (Moulded Gourds),’ Gugong bowuyuan yuankan (Palace Museum Journal), Beijing, 1979, No. 1, pl. 7-right (Translated into English by Clunas, The Oriental Ceramic Society Chinese Translation Series, Number Ten, London, 1981, p. 23, fig. 6)
Zhongguo jiade yishupin touzi tudian: zaxiang (China Guardian Illustrated Catalogue of Art Investment: Miscellaneous), Hebei, 2005, p. 124 center
Wang Shixiang noted in The Charms of the Gourd that the skin of the jar is much thicker than that of the cover and they may belong to two different gourd species.
Compare the moulded gourd vase decorated with the same foliate scroll and overlapping lotus petals rising from the ring foot, inscribed at the neck with an imperial poem by the Qianlong Emperor, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated by Wang in The Charms of the Gourd, op. cit., p. 204, no. 23. The present example may have used the same mould as the Palace Museum vase mentioned above, and was retro-fitted into a jar with cover.
清乾隆 御製纏蓮紋匏蓋罐 徑 12.2 厘米
「乾隆賞玩」雙圈款
來源 1950年代末購自北京東四烟筒胡同何玉堂處
王世襄 (1914-2009) 舊藏
北京中國嘉德 2003 年 11 月 26 日，拍品第 1232 號
水松石山房藏
出版 王世襄〈說葫蘆〉，香港 1993，第 207頁，圖 26
王世襄〈談匏器〉故宮博物院院刊，北京 1979，第一期，圖 7 右
(柯律格英譯刊於倫敦東方陶瓷學會翻譯系列，1981，第 23 頁，
圖 6)
中國嘉德藝術投資圖典：雜項，2005 年，第 124 頁中
