Footnotes

清乾隆 青白玉雕如意饕餮紋獸耳瓶

Provenance 來源:
Franco Marinotti (1891-1966) and thence by descent

意大利企業家Franco Marinotti (1891-1966)舊藏，並由家族繼承

Franco Marinotti
Coming from a small city in Italy, the extraordinary journey of Franco Marinotti (1891-1966) began in a textile company near Milan (the Filatura Cascami Seta) at the beginning of the 20th century, where he made his way up to the prominent position of managing the Warsaw and Moscow branches. This enriching experience and strong commercial relationships developed in Russia allowed him to launch his own company in 1921, the CICE - Compagnia Industriale Commercio Estero. It also enabled him to have continuous business links with Russia and South East Asia even following the October Revolution in 1917. The enterprise, which was intended to facilitate and regulate the economic relationships between Italian companies and Russia, resulted in Marinotti becoming a highly influential commercial and political figure.

In 1930, Senatore Borletti, one of the most important Milanese entrepreneurs and financiers, asked Marinotti to become managing director of the SNIA Viscosa. He subsequently became CEO in 1934 and President and shareholder of SNIA until his death in 1966. In these politically and economically troubled times, Franco Marinotti proved to be an exceptional leader bringing the company to an unprecedented international level, revealing himself as a man of great intuition and many talents, with a clear disposition for innovation. His merits were also recognised by King Umberto II, the last King of Italy, who rewarded him with the noble title of Count of Torviscosa, a town founded by Marinotti.

As a philanthropist, he was very much involved in collecting and preserving art, including Antiquities, Old Master Paintings, Oriental and Modern and Contemporary Art. His collection demonstrates his wide range of interests and passion for collecting. In 1949, he bought the Palazzo Grassi through SNIA Viscosa, and founded the 'Centro Internazionale delle Arti e del Costume'. Exceptionally, through both wars, Marinotti continued to support artists, such as the members of the Futurists Movement, as well as ceramics artists and even funded archaeological sites, demonstrating his extraordinary strong, complex character and unique vision through his career and pursuit of arts and culture. It is possible that this magnificent jade vase was acquired during his travels to China in the early 20th century.

The present vase in its low relief design incorporating taotie masks and the mythical beast handles, is inspired by archaic bronzes of the Shang dynasty. This is consistent with the Qianlong emperor's fascination with archaic and ancient objects. Chang Li-tuan notes in The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch'ing Court, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1997, p.49 that the Qianlong emperor proposed to 'restore ancient ways', suggesting that jade carvers turn to antiquity for models, which would enable them to imbue their designs with simplicity and honesty, and so achieve refinement and elegance. The 'ancient ways' referred to the intrinsic values of sincerity, simplicity, and happy exuberance.

The present vase is particularly noteworthy for its fine quality of jade stone and impressive size. The process of its carving on the exterior and the hollowing of the deep interior would have entailed a significant amount of wastage of the prized stone, making this vase an exceptionally prized object. As such, it would have probably adorned the interior of one of the imperial palaces or the home of a high-ranking official.

For a related white jade vase and cover, Qianlong, with taotie design and a similarly shaped finial, from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, see M.Wilson, Chinese Jades, London, 2004, pl.109; see also a related white jade vase and cover, Qianlong, with a similar finial, illustrated in Age of Glories: An Exhibition of Important Chinese Arts from Collections on Both Sides of the Taiwan Strait, Beijing, 2009, pl.38; for a further white jade vase and cover, Qianlong, with the surface kept plain and with elephant ring handles, see T.Fok, The Splendour of Jade: The Songzhutang Collection of Jade, Hong Kong, 2011, pl.135.

有關意大利企業家Franco Marinotti
Franco Marinotti是20世紀初期意大利著名的紡織企業家，曾擔任該集團華沙及莫斯科分部的總裁。1921年，他在俄羅斯成立自己的公司並迅速發展壯大，直至俄國十月革命時，他的公司仍在正常運營。他企業的成功為他今後在俄羅斯、東南亞、以及意大利的事業鋪平道路，並成為歐洲商界及政界中的重要人物。

此人於1930年受當時米蘭著名企業家之邀，成為了意大利最大紡織及化纖集團SNIA Viscosa的首席執行官，並在1966年成為集團總裁及董事。在位期間，Franco以其卓越的領導才能以及敏銳的辨識力將集團帶向國際舞台，其功績還受到了意大利王室最後一任國王翁貝托二世的認可。

在世時，Franco亦是一位慈善家並對藝術品收藏情有獨鍾。他的收藏囊括古董、大師級油畫、東方古代及近代藝術等等，展示了他興趣廣泛的一面。1949年，他收購了位於威尼斯的格拉西宫並在其舊址成立「國際藝術與服裝中心」。在戰亂期間，他多次出資支持未來主義畫家及陶瓷藝術家進行藝術創作，還資助考古發掘活動，足可見其對事業的謀略以及對藝術的熱愛。此件玉雕方蓋瓶極有可能是他於20世紀早期在中國獲得。

玉質青白色，純淨溫潤。器為仿古造型，扁方體，瓶身兩側有獸耳，腹部呈梯形，方形足，覆鬥式蓋，長方形鈕。頸部及腹部兩面浮雕饕餮如意紋，瓶口、蓋口及瓶底各飾迴紋一周。

乾隆皇帝慕古如痴，在藝術上極力倡導「復古」及「仿古」，強調玉器應向古器物學習，即謂「玩物仍存師古情」。為讓宮廷造辦處領會其要求，乾隆皇帝將內府收藏古器物的圖錄，如《西清古鑑》交付玉工為新製玉器時造型及紋飾提供藍本。見張麗端著，《宮廷之雅：清代仿古及畫意玉器特展圖錄》，1997年，頁49。

此件饕餮紋獸耳瓶玉質溫潤，用料講究，雕工精湛。相似的帶有饕餮紋的玉雕瓶，見維多利亞及阿伯特博物館藏一例，著錄於M.Wilson，《Chinese Jades》，倫敦，2003年，圖版109。另見一例乾隆白玉瓶，著錄於《Age of Glories: An Exhibition of Important Chinese Arts from Collections on Both Sides of the Taiwan Strait》，北京，2009年，圖版38。另見一例器形類似的乾隆白玉獸耳活環耳瓶，著錄於霍滿棠，《韞玉生輝：松竹堂珍藏玉器》，香港，2011，圖版135。