A superb and rare gilt-decorated famille-rose turquoise-ground vaseSeal mark and period of Qianlong清乾隆 松石綠地粉彩描金團龍吉慶紋螭耳瓶 《大清乾隆年製》款the base with a six-character seal mark in gold enamelHeight 10½ in., 26.7 cm来源: Description A superb and rare gilt-decorated famille-rose turquoise-ground vaseSeal mark and period of Qianlong清乾隆 松石綠地粉彩描金團龍吉慶紋螭耳瓶 《大清乾隆年製》款the base with a six-character seal mark in gold enamelHeight 10½ in., 26.7 cmCondition reportFor more information on and additional videos for this lot, please contactserina.wei@sothebys.com.ProvenanceChristie's New York, 3rd June 1988, lot 304.紐約佳士得1988年6月3日，編號304Catalogue noteCloisonné Imitation for the EmperorMeticulously painted with confrontedchilongamidst a turquoise-blue ground, the present vase demonstrates the playful emulations that were the result of technical mastery and experimentation at the Imperial workshops during the Qianlong period. The vase belongs to a group of vessels commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-1795) in imitationof cloisonné enamel. The Qianlong Emperor was particularly fond of cloisonné enamel work, which he revived on a grand scale after a period of disregard under the YongzhengEmperor. Cloisonné-imitation works were commissioned in both enameled porcelain, such as the present vase, and copper, where the wires separating the cloisonsof different colors were mirrored by finely painted golden lines.Although the idea of imitating other materials through porcelain had existed well before the 18th century, the craftsmen of the Qianlong period advanced the technique to a new level of perfection, sometimes creating ingenious trompe l'oeil works virtually indistinguishable from the actual medium they were simulating. Other Qianlong period porcelains imitating cloisonné enamel include a Tibetan-style ewer, duomuhu, gifted to the Hong Kong Museum of Art by Dr. K.S. Lo, included in the exhibition The Wonders of the Potter's Palette : Qing Ceramics from the Collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1984, cat. no. 70; a baluster vase with a simulated 'ribbon' tied around the body, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Qing Porcelain of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Periods from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 40; a handled 'lotus' vase, also in the Palace Museum, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 119; and a double-gourd 'lotus' vase in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Qingdai Yongzheng - Xuantong Guanyao Ciqi [Qing Dynasty Official Wares from the Yongzheng to the Xuantong Reigns], Shanghai, 2014, pl. 5-39. A handled vase with lotus scroll formerly in the W.W. Winkworth and Robert Chang Collections has sold several times at auction, first in our London rooms, 12th December 1972, lot 175, and more recently in our Hong Kong rooms, 26th October 2003, lot 121. See also a vase with lotus and the Eight Daoist Emblems, first sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 24th-25th November 1987, lot 182, and again at Christie's Hong Kong, 3rd December 2008, lot 2566.The composition of circular medallions formed by chilong or bats framed by floral sprays highlighted with gilt against a vibrantly-enameled ground is found on other porcelains from the reign, and was possibly inspired by contemporaneous textile designs. Compare a much larger (73.7cm high) ruby-ground vase with bat and lotus medallions, from the collection of Benjamin Altman, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 14.40.406), illustrated in Suzanne G. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, pl. 278.彩旖金輝：乾隆仿掐絲琺瑯彩瓷珍器本品以松石綠為地，瓶身繪四組團龍紋，筆法細緻精湛，盡顯乾隆年間御窰的至臻工藝與創新精神。雍正帝素愛淡雅，在位期間對於繁縟的掐絲琺瑯器品並未著力發展，而其繼任者乾隆帝卻對這一華麗品類鐘愛有加，在位期間更是命工匠仿其外觀大量生產銅胎以及瓷胎仿掐絲琺瑯器，前者於器身描金線代替掐絲，匠心獨運，工藝非凡，而本品則為瓷胎仿掐絲琺瑯器之典例。雖然十八世紀前就已有能工巧匠以瓷身模仿各式材質的器物，但乾隆年間，繪藝精湛，這些擬仿藝作近乎完美，視覺上時常無法辨別彩繪與原本材料的區別。參考其它乾隆仿掐絲琺瑯瓷器例，包括一多穆壺例，羅桂祥博士捐於香港藝術館，錄於《清瓷薈錦：香港藝術館藏清代陶瓷》，香港藝術館，香港，1984年，編號70；另有兩例為北京故宮博物院館藏，其一為包袱式瓶，圖見《康雍乾：故宮珍藏瓷器圖錄》，香港，1989年，圖版40，其二則為螭耳瓶，圖見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集：琺瑯彩・粉彩》，香港，1999年，圖版119。再比一例藏上海博物館，纏枝蓮紋葫蘆瓶，可參考《清代雍正-宣統官窯瓷器》，上海，2014年，圖版5-39。與本品相類例在拍場上亦見兩例，其一為雙耳瓶，W.W.Winkworth及張宗憲舊藏，售於倫敦蘇富比1972年12月12日，編號175，繼售於香港蘇富比2003年10月26日，編號121，其二為暗八仙紋象耳尊，1987年11月24至25日售於香港蘇富比，編號182，後再度於2008年12月3日在香港佳士得易手，編號2566。乾隆御瓷紋飾當中常見此類色地飾螭龍或蝙蝠團紋式樣，配纏枝花卉，再描金勾邊，雅麗吉祥，或取材自當時流行的織物圖樣。參考一尺寸較大之瓷例（高73.7公分），胭脂紅地蝙蝠蓮花團紋瓶，紐約著名藏家Benjamin Altman遺贈，現藏於紐約大都會藝術博物館，館藏編號14.40.406，圖載於 Suzanne G. Valenstein，《A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics》，紐約，1989年，圖版 278。