Footnotes

• 清乾隆 青花纏枝蓮托梵文高足盌 青花「大清乾隆年製」篆書款
  
  Provenance:
  Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2 May 1995, lot 83
  A European private collection
  Christie's Hong Kong, 29 May 2007, lot 1470
  
  來源：
  香港蘇富比，1995年5月2日，拍品83
  歐洲私人收藏
  香港佳士得，2007年5月29日，拍品1470
  
  The present stem cup, inspired by Tibetan butter lamps or chang ming deng, is remarkable for the superb painting in lighter and darker tones of underglaze blue, simulating the 'heaped and piled' effect of the early Ming dynasty' imported cobalt blue. Also noteworthy is its unusual large size, measuring 14.7cm diam. and 13.2cm high, in comparison to the much smaller standard size of 8.5-10cm high.
  
  The Qing emperors publicly supported Tibetan Buddhism which brought both political and to varying extents personal benefits, by ensuring solidarity with Mongolian and Tibetan allies and providing personal spiritual guidance. The Qianlong emperor was particularly dedicated to the practice of Tibetan Buddhism and this is reflected in many ceramics and decorative arts produced for the court and as gifts during his reign.
  
  Compare a similar blue and white stem cup, Qianlong seal mark and period, of similar size, illustrated by U.Wiesner, Chinesisches Porzellan: Die Ohlmer'sche Sammlung im Roemer-Museum, Hildesheim, Mainz am Rhein, 1981, pl.59. See also a slightly smaller example, illustrated in Catalogue of Ch'ing Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, Tokyo, 1981, pl.13. Such cups were also made for the Imperial court in other materials, such as cloisonné enamel and lacquer: see a cloisonné enamel stem cup, Qianlong mark and period, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Enamels 2 Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, pl.280; and a carved cinnabar lacquer stem cup, Qianlong seal mark and period, in the Linden Museum, Stuttgart, illustrated in Im Zeichen Des Drachen von der Schönheit Chinesischer Lacke, Munich, 2006, pl.86.
  
  A similar blue and white 'lança character' stem cup, Qianlong seal mark and period, but of smaller size, was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8 October 2013, lot 3024.
  
  撇口，深弧腹，下承中空高足，足底外撇。盌內心繪團花紋，腹部內壁罩白釉，外壁飾蓮花托梵文圖案。盌底繪雙層蓮瓣紋，高足上飾藍底白花、四瓣海棠花以及瓔珞紋。圈足內飾白釉。此器造型端莊，胎體細膩，青花以點染法摹仿明代永宣蘇麻離青效果，發色純真，翠妍欲滴，為上佳之作。
  
  蓮托梵文盌為清代官窯的傳統品種，雍正至嘉慶朝皆有燒造，然雍正、乾隆者較精。乾隆崇佛信佛，一方面鞏固了滿清朝廷與蒙、藏權貴之間的關係，一方面也對宮廷的宗教信仰以及藝術產生了影響。帶有宗教色彩的紋飾在宮廷藝術上大量出現。
  
  此式高足盌有四至五種大小不同規格，此件拍品屬於較大尺寸者，較為少見。見德國佩里扎烏斯博物館藏乾隆一例，著錄於U.Wiesner，《Chinesisches Porzellan: Die Ohlmer'sche Sammlung im Roemer-Museum, Hildesheim》，德國，1981年，編號59。另見台北故宮博物院藏一例，尺寸稍小，見《Catalogue of Ch'ing Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum》，東京，1981年，圖版13。宮廷中同式高足盌亦見其他材料製成者，如北京故宮博物院藏銅胎掐絲琺瑯一例，見《故宮博物院藏品大系：琺瑯器編2》，北京，2011年，頁350，編號280。同式高足盌亦有雕漆者，見德國斯圖加特林登博物館藏清乾隆剔紅蓮托梵文高足盌一例，著錄於《Im Zeichen Des Drachen von der Schönheit Chinesischer Lacke》，慕尼黑，2006年，圖版86。
  
  見香港蘇富比曾售出一例，尺寸稍小，2013年10月8日，拍品3024。