Footnotes

清乾隆 御製銅鎏金掐絲琺瑯纏枝番蓮紋甪端薰爐
「大清乾隆年製」楷書刻款

Provenance:
An important Taiwanese private collection

Exhibited and published:
Chinese Treasures from the Chang Foundation, Shoto Museum of Art, Tokyo, 2001, p.98, no.112
Ching Wan Society Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition, National Museum of History, Taipei, 2012, p.223

來源：
重要台灣私人收藏

展覽及出版：
《中國美術の精華：台北‧鴻禧美術館所藏品展》，松濤美術館，東京，2001年，頁98，編號112
《清翫雅集廿周年慶收藏展》，國立歷史博物館，臺北，2012年，頁223

The present lot features the outstanding quality of enamelling and casting at the highest level, which is characteristic of cloisonné enamel vessels made in the Palace workshops, Qingdai Gongting Zaobanchu (清宮造辦處).

Imperial works of art made for the Court during the Qianlong period often combine archaic-inspired form and design, reflecting the emperor's appreciation of the past, with the opulence and grandeur representing the Qing Court's taste, at the height of the Qing dynasty. The exceptional result was due to the technical virtuosity achieved at the cloisonné enamel ateliers during the Qianlong reign; nowhere better demonstrated than in the brilliantly multi-coloured body and tail as well as the tour-de-force of the luduan head on top of the vessel, fully displaying the power of the mythical beast.

It is extremely rare to find a cloisonne enamel luduan with the Qianlong reign mark, and only one other similar example appears to have been published, in the Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum, illustrated in The Prime Cultural Relics Collected by Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum. The Enamel Volume., Liaoning, 2007, p.93, no.5.

此薰爐為乾隆宮殿陳設品及實用品，通常放置於大殿內兩側堂陛之上，為成對使用。甪端胎體厚重，頭部向上仰起，兩排整齊牙齒中露一舌頭，調皮生動，短頸周圍一圈整齊的頸鬣，頭部、頜頸之鈕、身上火焰及足抓均為鎏金，頜頸之鈕上刻「大清乾隆年製」楷書款，甪端圓鼓身體掐絲嵌纏枝花卉紋，琺瑯配色更見罕見的粉紅色，值得關注是其尾巴造型非常獨特，整體造型挺拔，鎏金緊實，掐絲細膩，為乾隆盛世清宮造辦處琺瑯作所生產的巔峰傑作之一。

清代至康熙時期，一度停滯不前的掐絲琺瑯御用器的生產開始全面復興。到了乾隆時期，掐絲琺瑯器的燒造更加繁榮，燒造大型掐絲琺瑯器的技術迅速提高。此時造辦處開始使用大型窯爐，並已經可以控制大型銅胎加熱後不會變形，而且嚴格掌握通體釉料一致。此器的工藝反映出乾隆時期掐絲琺瑯和鎏金工藝的獨特之美。

同類帶乾隆年款的掐絲琺瑯甪端非常罕見，僅見瀋陽故宮博物院藏一例，與本器非常相似，有可能原為一對，放置於寶座兩側，見《瀋陽故宮博物院院藏文物精粹：琺瑯卷》，瀋陽，2007年，頁93，編號5。

Please refer to the essay by Zhang Rong in this catalogue for further discussion on Qianlong mark and period cloisonné enamel incense burner.

更多有關清乾隆款掐絲琺瑯甪端的討論，請參看本圖錄中張榮的專文論述。