A rare Guan-type square vase, cong


Qianlong seal mark and of the periodThe sturdily potted vase rising from a short spreading and pierced foot, moulded in relief on each of the sides with the Eight Trigrams, bagua, arranged in horizontal registers of two columns, covered overall with an unctuous, widely-crackled Guan-type glaze stopping at the brown-dressed biscuit foot ring, the reverse with two pairs of indentations for hanging, the base with the six-character mark in underglaze blue. 29.5cm (11 5/8in) high.
|清乾隆 仿官釉琮式穿帶瓶青花「大清乾隆年製」篆書款Provenance:Sotheby's Paris, 15 December 2011, lot 98An important Asian private collection來源：巴黎蘇富比，2011年12月15日，拍品98重要亞洲私人收藏During the 18th century the Imperial Court was fascinated with archaic objects and many wares were produced in imitation of ancient forms and designs. This trend reflected the emperors' intention of restoring 'the ancient ways' as means to draw the moral righteousness and strength from the examples of the ancients. The Qianlong emperor purposefully devised the Xi Qing Gu Jian 西清古鑑(Catalogue of Xiqing Antiquities), a collection of drawings from antiquities, as means to provide important sources of inspiration to his craftsmen. See Chang Li-tuan, The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch'ing Court, Taipei, 1997, pp.49-50. This is exemplified in the present vase in its form which is inspired by the archaic jade ritual cong vessel, which featured a square body and a hollowed circular core, and was usually carved with stylised masks arranged in horizontal registers at the corners. See for example a jade cong, Neolithic period, Liangzhu Culture (circa 3200-2000 BC), illustrated by J.Rawson, Chinese Jade From The Neolithic To The Qing, London, 1995, p.128, fig.3:5. Furthermore, the crackled greyish-blue glaze visible on the cong was inspired by the 'iron-wire and golden thread' glaze of Imperial Guan wares of the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). Compare with a similar vase illustrated by P.Y.K.Lam, Ethereal Elegance, Porcelain Vases of the Imperial Qing: The Huaihaitang Collection, Hong Kong, 2007, no.45.A related Guan-type cong vase, Qianlong mark and period, was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 November 2011, lot 320. Compare also with a further similar vase illustrated by B.Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl.209, which was later sold at Sotheby's Paris, 12 June 2008, lot 123.十八世紀期間，宮廷泛起一股慕古之風，宮廷作坊及窯口常以上古器型紋飾為藍本，製造仿古器物。此股風氣源於清三代帝皇大舉提倡復古主義，效上古聖賢之道。而乾隆皇帝亦曾下旨編修《西清古鑑》，記錄宮中珍藏上古青銅器的器型樣式，供工匠窯工參考，詳見張麗端著，《宮廷之雅：清代仿古及畫意玉器特展圖錄》，台北，1997年，頁49-50。此拍品充分反映乾隆一朝濃厚的復古風氣：形制模仿上古玉琮，呈方柱狀，內圓外方，類似玉琮曾於新石器時代良渚文化（約公元前3200 - 2000年）遺址出土，其中一例載於J.Rawson著，《Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing》，倫敦，1995年，頁128，圖3:5。而琮瓶釉料所呈現之天青色以及蟹爪紋，為仿照南宋官窯而製，頗為別緻。懷海堂珍藏一尊相關的清乾隆哥釉琮式瓶，形制相似，可資比對，詳見林業強著，《機暇清賞: 懷海堂藏清代御窰瓷缾》，香港，2007年，編號45。香港佳士得亦曾於2011年11月30日拍賣一件相關的清乾隆官釉琮瓶，拍品320號。另一相似的例子，載於B.Gyllensvärd著，《Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection》，斯德哥爾摩，1964年，圖209；其後於2008年6月12日巴黎蘇富比拍賣，拍品123號。