A VERY RARE IMPERIAL-TRIBUTE PAINTED ENAMEL YELLOW-GROUND SNUFF BOTTLE

Yongzheng four-character mark and of the period

Footnotes

清雍正 銅胎畫琺瑯黃地人物紋鼻煙壺
「雍正年製」楷書款

Provenance:
Spink & Son Ltd., London,
E. A. Parry (1879-1946), London, acquired from the above on 30 September 1923, and thence by descent

來源：
倫敦古董商Spink & Son Ltd.
倫敦E. A. Parry（1879-1946）舊藏，於1923年9月30日購自上者，並由後人保存迄今


The present yellow-ground enamel snuff bottle is a very rare example made as Imperial-tribute to the Court of the Yongzheng Emperor. As noted by Hugh Moss, 'extant examples of Yongzheng painted enamels on metal are almost as rare as those surviving from the Kangxi reign. [...] Of all surviving marked enamels from the Yongzheng era (there are not many), more than half are southern.' Yellow-ground enamel on copper examples of this form are rare and vary in decoration including designs of 'dragons', 'deer in landscape', 'bats, lotus and Shou', and particularly rarely, as seen on the present snuff bottle, with Daoist female Immortals.

The Imperial Enamel Workshop which was first established in Beijing by the Kangxi Emperor utilising the knowledge of Jesuit priests and enamellers from Guangzhou, was producing enamel works since circa 1715 as attested to by a Jesuit priest, Father de Maille; see H.Garner, 'The Origins of Famille Rose', TOCS, vol.37, 1967-1969, London, 1970, p.4. However, the most important Chinese craftsmen came from Guangzhou as shown in a Court memorial dated to 1716 noting the Viceroy of Guangdong and Guangxi sent two artisans to Beijing to serve in the Enamel Workshop; see Yang Boda, Tributes from Guangdong to the Ch'ing Court, Hong Kong, 1987, p.63. By the Yongzheng period technical challenges were gradually overcome and the painting became more refined and controlled.

See a related Imperial-tribute painted enamel yellow-ground 'deer in landscape' snuff bottle, Yongzheng four-character mark and of the period, illustrated by H.Moss, V.Graham, and K.B.Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Hong Kong, 2008, vol.6, part 1, pp.288-289, no.1129, which was later sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 24 November 2014, lot 188. Compare also a Guangzhou painted enamel yellow-ground 'dragons' snuff bottle, Yongzheng mark and period, in the British Museum, London, acc.no.1936,0413.64.

See also a Guangzhou painted enamel yellow-ground 'bats, shou and lotus' snuff bottle, Yongzheng brown-enamel four-character mark and of the period, which was sold at Christie's New York, 19 March 2008, lot 261.

壺銅胎，小口直頸，折肩微溜，直壁扁腹，整器修長挺拔，纖巧俏麗。明黃作地，一側繪麻姑肩挑花籃，手執仙桃，端立雲端；一側繪西王母身著袍服，手持如意，瑞鳳伴於身側。器底黃地書褐彩「雍正年製」楷書款。

本例為雍正年間貢品中極為珍罕的畫琺瑯製品。如Hugh Moss所述，現存的雍正時期金屬胎畫琺瑯製品，幾乎與康熙年間的畫琺瑯製品一樣少有；...而現存少數署有雍正年款的畫琺瑯製品中，多於半數為南作。形如此例且以明黃為地的銅胎畫琺瑯鼻煙壺頗為少見，曾見以祥龍、瑞鹿、福壽等作主題者，而如本例以道教女性仙人為飾者殊為稀有。

十五世紀中葉，歐洲發明了畫琺瑯的製作技法，後隨海運貿易往來以及西方傳教士呈進傳入中國，身處通商口岸的廣州工匠得以比清宮造辦處更快接觸歐洲進口畫琺瑯器。康熙年間始設內務府造辦處琺瑯作，據傳教士Maille神父稱，自約1715年起，西方傳教士和琺瑯匠師已赴京傳授燒琺瑯工藝；見H.Garner著，〈The Origins of Famille Rose〉，收錄於《TOCS》，卷37，1967-1969年，倫敦，1970年，頁4。然而，從康熙硃批奏摺中可知康熙五十五年（1716年）兩廣總督楊琳派潘淳、楊士章等四人進入內廷琺瑯廠效力。雍正和乾隆時期，廣東督撫繼續向養心殿造辦處保送畫琺瑯匠師，並同時向內廷提供進口的或廣東製造的琺瑯彩料。詳見楊伯達著，《清代廣東貢品》，香港，1987年，頁63。至雍正年間，畫琺瑯工藝和製作技法已日臻成熟。

參考一例清雍正廣東銅胎畫琺瑯黃地福祿壽圖鼻煙壺，「雍正年製」款，收錄於H.Moss，V.Graham與K.B.Tsang著，《A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles》，香港，2008年，卷六，第一部分，頁288-289，編號1129；後於香港蘇富比2014年11月24日「瑪麗及莊智博鼻煙壺珍藏：第九部份」專場拍賣售出，拍品編號188。另見倫敦大英博物館館藏一例清雍正廣東銅胎畫琺瑯黃地龍紋鼻煙壺，藏品編號1936,0413.64。紐約佳士得亦曾售一例清雍正廣東銅胎畫琺瑯黃地鼻煙壺，飾蝙蝠及纏枝花卉，2008年3月19日，拍品編號261，可資比對。