The Property of a Gentleman 紳士藏品
Lot 3
A large Ming-style blue and white 'nine-chilong' vase, meiping
18th century
2 June 2016, 10:30 HKT
Hong Kong, AdmiraltySold for HK$400,000 inc. premium
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A large Ming-style blue and white 'nine-chilong' vase, meiping
18th century
Of tapering form, rising from the slightly flared foot to the high rounded shoulders, surmounted by the waisted neck and rounded rim, finely painted in varying shades of blue around the central register with nine chi dragons amidst a meandering leafy lotus blossom scroll, between a continuous lotus scroll around the shoulders and lotus petal panels framing floral garlands above the foot, the neck with a band of upright lappets.
47.1cm (18 1/2in) high
Of tapering form, rising from the slightly flared foot to the high rounded shoulders, surmounted by the waisted neck and rounded rim, finely painted in varying shades of blue around the central register with nine chi dragons amidst a meandering leafy lotus blossom scroll, between a continuous lotus scroll around the shoulders and lotus petal panels framing floral garlands above the foot, the neck with a band of upright lappets.
47.1cm (18 1/2in) high
Footnotes
十八世紀 仿明式青花九龍穿花紋梅瓶
Provenance 來源:
A European private collection
歐洲私人收藏
The present vase is finely painted in the Ming-style with varying shades of blue imitating the 'heaping and piling' effect of the high iron-content cobalt blue used during the early Ming dynasty. In decoration, the nine chi dragons, a popular theme also represented in other mediums, including jade, cloisonné enamel, glass and rhinoceros horn, may allude to the 'nine sons of the dragon', with the number nine seen as the number of heaven, associated with the emperor.
Compare with a related Ming-style blue and white moonflask, 18th century, which was sold at Christie's London on 10 May 2011, lot 270.
瓶口微撇，短頸，豐肩，長圓腹漸收，圈足。通體青花繪四層紋飾，主題紋飾繪九龍穿花紋，輔以蕉葉、纏枝蓮，如意雲頭、變形蓮瓣紋等邊飾。此瓶造型飽滿，構圖疏密有致，運筆自然，盡顯嫻熟繪畫技巧，所施青花翠麗，略有暈散但層次清晰，以筆端點染鐵鏽斑痕，有仿明代「宣青」遺風。整體端莊典雅。
此瓶所飾九龍紋飾有古代傳說「龍生九子」或「九龍在天」之意。在中國傳統文化裏，「九」代表最高權威的「天數」，用來形容天子至高無上的地位。類似的紋飾也可見於其他器物上，例如玉器、掐絲琺瑯器、料器和犀牛角杯等。倫敦佳士得曾售出一件十八世紀的仿明式抱月瓶可資參考，2011年5月10日，編號270。