WINTER EXHIBITION 2008 - Roger Keverne

113
A fine and rare imperial carved red lacquer vase
Qianlong period
Height: 8D in, 21 cm
of elegant, slender double-gourd form supported on a spreading rectangular foot. Both sides
are carved with two medallions containing the gilt characters Da ji (Great good fortune) on
hexagonal floral diaper grounds and surrounded by cloud lappets, all reserved against a dense
ground of the Ba jixiang (Eight Buddhist Emblems), tied with ribbons, amid scrolling foliage.
The neck is carved with pendent lappets and the foot with lappets against a leiwen ground
above a band of key-fret. A ribbon is tied around the middle of the vase, falling down the
narrow sides in soft folds. The interior and base are lacquered black and the base is incised
with three characters, reading Chong hua gong (Palace of Double Brilliance).
The expression Chonghua referred in ancient times to the splendour of the reign of Shun,
following on from the great achievements of his predecessor Yao.
The Chonghua gong is a palace in the northwest of the Forbidden City, consisting of three
courtyards. As the Qianxi Ersuo, it was the residence of Hongli from the age of seventeen,
and before he became the Qianlong Emperor, and he spent the first years of his married life
in these private chambers. On becoming the Qianlong Emperor, the palace was renamed
Chonghua gong, and was used, together with the Palace of Heavenly Purity, for annual tea
parties at which guests were asked to write poems. For photographs of the interior of the
Chonghua gong, see Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (II): The Complete Collection
of Treasures of the Palace Museum, nos. 258–60, pp. 305–07.
A similar, circular-section vase, lacking the ribbon, is illustrated in Carved Lacquer in the
Collection of the Palace Museum, pl. 389. Such vases are also found in other materials: see,
for example, Zhongguo Meishu Fenlei Quanji: Zhongguo Jinyin Boli Falangqi Quanji, Vol. 6,
no. 309, p. 204, a painted enamel version in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing;
and Zhou, “The Zande Lou Ceramics Gallery”, fig. 8, one of a pair of porcelain wall vases tied
with a ribbon, in the collection of the Shanghai Museum.
ROGER KEVERNE WINTER 2008 143