
Coco Li
Cataloguer / Sale Coordinator, Chinese Works of Art
This auction has ended. View lot details


Sold for US$17,920 inc. premium
Our Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialist
Cataloguer / Sale Coordinator, Chinese Works of Art

Senior Vice President, US Head, Asian Art Group

Vice President and Head of Department

Senior Specialist
乾隆 1750-1780 御製白玉刻蘭花帶御題詩文鼻煙壺一件
Provenance:
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 3 May 1995, lot 571
Eugene Y.C. Sung Collection, Ohio and New York
來源:
香港蘇富比,1995年5月3日,拍品號571
Eugene Y.C. Sung藏,俄亥俄州、紐約州
The poem on the side of the orchids reads:
御題蘭花 (Imperial Inscription on Orchid Painting)
春畹秋唐儘裊姍,氷霜傲得是真蘭。
摘來香色都清淨,鼻觀從參古佛壇。
The poem is written by Qianlong, and it is inscribed on the leaf of orchid of an album painted by the court painter Yu Sheng (1692-1767) from the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing: 清余省畫墨妙珠林(子) 冊 大寒二候蘭花 (npm.gov.tw)
The poem on the other side reads:
御題石榴 (Imperial Inscription on Pomegranate Painting)
誰識紅華絳采敷,能囊白色水晶珠。
蜀葵㡬朶芳姿暎,合喚天中輯瑞圖。
Also written by Qianlong, this poem was originally inscribed on a hanging scroll of marsh mallow and pomegranate flowers by the court artist Zou Yigui (1688-1772) from the collection of Palace Museum, Taipei: 清鄒一桂蜀葵石榴 軸 (npm.gov.tw). The third line of the poem mentions marsh mallow. The poem compares the beauty and color of pomegranates to that of women and paintings.
For a lengthy discussion on the subject of jade bottles with Imperial poetic inscriptions and corresponding subjects, most often flowers, see Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, New York, 1993, pp. 94-95, no. 38.