Footnotes

Treasury 4, no. 514


水晶內畫鼻煙壺
葉仲三，1897年


Ye Zhongsan's Multitude of Blessings

Crystal, ink, and watercolours; with a slightly concave lip and recessed flat foot surrounded by a protruding, convex footrim; painted with a continuous scene of five chicks on a grassy ground near a rocky outcrop, with peonies growing behind it and a blossoming prunus tree in front, its branches wrapping around the bottle, with two magpies perched in it, inscribed in draft script 'Painted by Ye Zhongsan at the capital in the sixth month of the year dingyou', with one seal of the artist, huayin (painting seal), in negative seal script

Ye Zhongsan, Apricot Grove Studio, Chongwen district, Beijing, sixth month, 1897
Height: 6.2 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.55/1.70 and 1.60 cm. (oval)
Stopper: tourmaline; vinyl collar
Condition: Original material: the crystal with some slight milky flaws, mostly concentrated in the neck area, but with some at the base where there are also some icy flaws in the stone; the overall appearance, however, is of flawless crystal until close examination is undertaken. Bottle: two tiny chips to the faceting of one narrow side, and even smaller, almost invisible nibbles to the other narrow side. Painting: some slight snuff staining and possible slight fading of original colours, but no spoon scratching. General relative condition: excellent

Provenance:
Sotheby's, London, 23 March 1988, Lot 278

Published:
JICSBS, Autumn 1982, p. 21, figs. 37 and 37a.
Kleiner, Yang, and Shangraw 1994, no. 326
Treasury 4, no. 514

Exhibited:
Hong Kong Museum of Art, March–June 1994
National Museum of Singapore, November 1994–February 1995

Commentary
This is undoubtedly one of Ye's transcendent masterpieces, impeccable in every way and a superb rendition of a lovely subject. Although the style can be traced back to Zhou Leyuan, who first painted the subject of five chicks in an inside-painted bottle, it has been completely transformed into Ye's own, distinctive version of the style, now fully absorbed and re-expressed as Ye's. In this respect it is much the same as a renaissance master working in a well-established style but with independent strength and personality. The chicks are a delight and every bit the equal of Zhou Leyuan's, and the two magpies are exquisitely painted with a delightful interaction between them. The upper bird, which seems to have just landed in the branches of the prunus, has its beak open, suggesting that it is screeching to attract the attention of the lower bird, settled on the trunk of the tree, which turns in response.

As so often in this medium, the artist has been inspired to paint his finest work when working in an unusual and beautifully made bottle. It is almost certainly not an earlier, existing bottle, since this form was used elsewhere by Ye in his output (see, for instance, Treasury 4, no. 517 for a narrower version) and also appears in a doubled form (see, for instance, JICSBS, Autumn, 1982, p. 18, figs. 26 and 26a for the standard double crystal used by both Ye and other artists of the Beijing school including Ma Shaoxuan and Zhu Zhanyuan). They were apparently made at the time to be painted and were available from, presumably, local crystal carvers.

As a rule, few of Ye's early masterpieces, prior to 1901, were not accompanied by this seal, huayin (painting seal), which is more complex than the standard, yin (seal), and was obviously a little more demanding and time-consuming to paint.

The symbolism of chicks in general is discussed under Treasury 4, no. 476, where their representation of ample progeny is explained, while the additional layer of meaning indicated by five chicks is dealt with under Treasury 4, no. 549. The other elements symbolize happiness, scholastic success, longevity and wealth. The magpie (xique) is regarded as a sign presaging happy (xi) events. A pair of magpies signify double happiness, which can also stand for marital bliss, of course, and a magpie (xi) perched on (shang) a prunus (mei) twig (shao) constitutes a rebus for the phrase, xi shang meishao, which describes a person being so happy that he displays a beaming countenance. The same composition may also evoke another expression, xi bao chun xian, which means 'The magpie announces the arrival of spring, the first season,' but in fact also implies a desire for the happiness awaiting one being placed first in the civil service examination. Under Treasury 4, no. 466, we have explained why the prunus also stands for longevity, as does the rock, while the peonies represent wealth.


雙鵲喜意，五雛清音

水晶、墨、水色；略凹唇、平斂底、突出凸形圈足；內畫通體梅樹一棵，一正面有五雛雞遊戲樹下，另一正面有一雙喜鵲棲息樹上，背景有坡石與牡丹花，雛雞圖上邊有款識曰："丁酉夏伏寫於京師，葉仲三"，其後落白文"畫印"一印

葉仲三，北京崇文區杏林齋，1897年6 月
高：6.2 厘米
口經/唇經：0.55/1.70、1.60 厘米（橢圓形）
蓋：碧璽，乙烯基座
狀態敘述: 原料：水晶有乳白色的瑕疵，多數集於頸部而底部亦有之，底部尚有結冰式的瑕疵，但本壺一看上去是無瑕的；一側的小平面有細微的缺口，另一側有更細的咬痕，幾乎看不見；內畫：有微乎其微的鼻煙染色和可能的褪色，但沒有匙子擦痕；一般相對的狀態：極善

來源：
蘇富比，倫敦，1988年3 月23日，拍賣品號278
文獻：
《國際中國鼻煙壺協會的學術期刊》Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, 1982年秋期，頁21，圖37、37a
Kleiner, Yang, and Shangraw 1994, 編號326
Treasury 4, 編號514
展覽﹕
香港藝術館，1994年3 月至6月
National Museum of Singapore, 1994年11月～1995年1月

說明：
五雛雞遊戲是周樂元先畫的內畫題材，但葉仲三取之而獨有創新，雛雞悅心，一雙喜鵲相對互鳴有幾分生意。本水晶壺原來很精緻，面對著它，內畫家不能不盡力畫出精緻的一幅畫。這件不是舊壺新用的；葉仲三其他的作品是在同類的壺裏畫的，顯然是當地的水晶雕匠給他製作的。他內畫的Treasury 5, 編號517，是用狹點的樣式；還有葉仲三、馬少宣、朱占元常用的雙聯樣式（參見《國際中國鼻煙壺協會的學術期刊》Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, 1982年秋期，頁18，圖26、26a）。

葉仲三1901年以前的作品極少不畫"畫印"一印。光畫個單字"印"印，多少省事。