An Imperial gilt-bronze and cloisonné-enamelled box and cover Qianlong incised mark and of the period
11
An Imperial gilt-bronze and cloisonné-enamelled box and cover
Qianlong incised mark and of the period
Of flattened circular shape rising from a short straight foot, the exterior brilliantly enamelled in various tones of red, blue, green, red, pink, yellow and white on a vivid turquoise ground with a design of stylised lotus blossoms amongst dense C-scroll vines, the gilded base with incised four-character mark with an additional incised 'tou' character. 6.4cm diam. (2).
Sold for HK$ 680,000 inc. premium

Footnotes

  • Provenance:
    Sotheby's London, 16 May 2007, lot 94

    The 'tou' character mark is one of a thousand different and unique characters taken from the poem 'Qianziwen' or 'Thousand Character Classic'. In this instance, craftsmen produced a group of gilt-bronze and cloisonné-enamelled box and covers for Imperial use, each incised with different characters taken from Qianziwen to label their positions inside the Palace.

    A similar Qianlong reign-marked cloisonné-enamelled box and cover with incised 'men' character is in the Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum, illustrated in The Prime Cultural Relics Collected by Shenyang Imperial Palace Musem. The Enamel Volume, Shenyang, 2007, pp.190-191, no.VII-10.

    清乾隆 銅胎掐絲珐琅纏枝花卉蓋盒 「乾隆年製」、「投」楷書刻款

    蓋盒扁圓形，子母口，圈足。盒蓋、盒身口沿及盒內壁、圈足內壁均爲素面鎏金，盒身外壁以藍色珐琅釉爲地色，上有掐絲填紅、黃、綠等顔色珐琅釉的寶相花及纏枝蓮紋，珐琅釉發色鮮艶，構圖有强烈層次感。圈足外壁亦掐絲纏枝蓮紋，足內底部陰刻「乾隆年製」四字楷書款，下刻「投」字楷書款。此件印盒做工精細，色彩華麗，爲清宮文房用具。

    千字文爲南朝梁武帝時期（502 – 549年），由員外散騎侍郎周興嗣奉皇命根據從王羲之書寫的碑文中選取不重複的一千個字而編撰而成，其內容涉及天文、地理、政治、經濟、社會、歷史、倫理，整篇文章無一字重複，後被用來作為教授兒童基本漢字的長韻紋。乾隆時期御製銅胎掐絲珐琅器除鐫刻紀年款外，還會出現附加刻字款，俗稱千字文款。其用意可能是用來區別御用銅胎珐琅器最初在各個宮殿、園囿的擺放位置，或在同一宮殿中不同的擺放位置。英國早期學者Harry Garner爵士也曾提及乾隆銅胎掐絲珐琅器上的附加刻字，並認爲是當時宮廷作坊用於標記成對或成組器物的款識，見Sir Harry Garner, 《Chinese and Japanese Cloisonne Enamels》, 倫敦， 1962年，頁91-92。與本件拍品相似的携「門」字千字文款的乾隆印盒，可參考《瀋陽故宮博物院藏文物精粹•珐琅卷》，2007年，頁190，圖版10。

Category: Asian Art / Chinese Works of Art

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