Brush holder with two brushes, Qing dynasty, 18th century, jade (nephrite). Brush holder: H. 6 in. (15.3 cm); Diam. 6 3/4 in. (17.2 cm) Brush (each): L. 12 1/8 in. (30.8 cm). Gift of Heber R. Bishop, 1902 (02.18.623a–d).© 2000–2016 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Table screen with landscape scene, Qing dynasty, 18th-19th century, jade (nephrite). H. 8 3/8 in. (21.2 cm); W. 5 1/16 in. (12.8 cm); D. 1 1/4 in. (3.1 cm). Gift of Heber R. Bishop, 1902 (02.18.617a, b). © 2000–2016 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Table screen with landscape scene, Qing dynasty, 18th-19th dynasty, jade (nephrite). H. 6 13/16 in. (17.3 cm); W. 9/16 in. (1.5 cm). Gift of Heber R. Bishop, 1902 (02.18.518)© 2000–2016 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Hercules Segers, Mountain Valley with Fenced Fields, 1625-30. Etching and drypoint, brush and colours. Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

AMSTERDAM.- On 7 October 2016 the Rijksmuseum opensed the first full retrospective of the work of Hercules Segers, one of the most mysterious and experimental artists of the Golden Age. His strange and wonderful mountain landscapes and endless vistas bear witness to an unbounded imagination. Segers was a truly pioneering etcher, developing wholly individual, arcane techniques for his colourful etchings. Poets and artists down through the ages have been inspired and fascinated by his poetic and melancholic paintings and prints. Rembrandt owned no fewer than eight of his paintings. From 7 October 2016 to 8 January 2017, a total of eighteen paintings and a hundred and ten impressions of fifty-four prints are on show in the Rijksmuseum. The exhibition then moves to the Metropolitan Museum in New York. 

Hercules Segers, Mountain Valley with Fenced Fields, 1625-30. Etching and drypoint, brush and colours. Kupferstich-Kabinett Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.

Boundless Imagination 
Hercules Segers (1589/90-1633/40) was an artist, like Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt van Rijn, who wanted to fathom and reproduce the essence of nature and the world. Foliage, sky and rock could be better conveyed by constructing them from one’s own imagination, rather than trying to copy them exactly. He combined scenes ‘from life’ with imaginary elements, as he did in the view from his own house on Lindengracht in Amsterdam, which he placed in a mountain valley. There is no evidence that Segers ever travelled or saw mountains in real life.  

Hercules Segers, The Mossy Tree, 1625-30. Etching, on a coloured ground, brush and colours. Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

The Mystery of Hercules Segers 
Segers maintained contacts with other artists and art dealers, and must have been a productive painter, but only a very small part of his oeuvre has survived – or has been recognized as such. The largest group of Segers prints in the Rijksmuseum, more than forty, came from the Amsterdam collector Michiel Hinloopen (1619-1708). They probably came originally from Segers’s workshop estate. New research in the records has now unearthed more information about Segers’s life. One of the unsolved mysteries about Segers is the cause and date of his premature demise. His sudden death could explain why many of his prints found their way to collectors unfinished and still in the experimental phase.  

Hercules Segers, Houses near Steep Cliffs, Oil on Canvas, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam

An Artists’ Artist 
Rembrandt was a great admirer of Segers’s work and owned eight of his paintings. He also acquired an etching plate from Segers’s estate and replaced the figures with some of his own, but he left the enchanting landscape untouched and printed it many times. Segers also found followers among Rembrandt’s pupils, such as Philips Koninck (1619-1688). Segers’s wonderfully coloured etchings remained popular with collectors and artists, but it was to be centuries – not until the twentieth century, in fact – before printmakers would experiment as freely again. Segers is consequently regarded as a precursor of modern graphic art and modern art in general.

Hercules Segers, The Two Trees (An Alder and an Ash), lift-ground etching in green, on a light pink ground, coloured with the brush, c. 1625–1630. Rijksmuseum.

New Discoveries and Attributions 
Since the middle of the last century, most art historians have agreed about the attribution of ten to twelve paintings to Hercules Segers. Thanks to exhaustive art-historical investigations and research into materials and techniques by a team of Rijksmuseum specialists, sixteen paintings and two oil sketches can now be presented as autograph works. The three paintings, Woodland Path, Panoramic Landscape with a Town on a River and Panoramic Landscape with Two Towers, all owned privately, have never been seen before. The Mountain Landscape from Hovingham Hall in England was last shown almost fifty years ago. Alongside the four works by Segers, there are two other paintings from private collections that have long been considered doubtful but may now also be definitively added to Segers’ oeuvre. They are the River Landscape with Figures and River Landscape with a Mill. Two new prints by the artist have also been found. 

Hercules Segers, View of Rhenen from the North, Oil on panel, c. 1620-1630. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin

New Research 
New art historical and scientific research has been undertaken for the exhibition by a team of Rijksmuseum specialists. This has resulted in a much better insight into Segers’s working methods, use of materials and the dating of the works. He made etchings in his painter’s studio and with painter’s materials, and printed with oil paints on colourful backgrounds and on linen and cotton. Contemporary Samuel van Hoogstraten described Segers’s prints as ‘printed paintings’. By working up his etchings with paint he made every print a unique work of art. There are sometimes as many as eight impressions of the same print in the exhibition, all very different in character and atmosphere. Later printmakers tried to unravel his experiments with etching techniques, but it is only now, thanks to new scientific research and reconstructions made in the museum, that it has been possible to penetrate the secrets of Segers’s methods. It was discovered, for instance, that he was the first artist in Europe to use paper from the Far East, twenty years before Rembrandt was to print his etchings on Japanese paper.  

Hercules Segers, View of Wageningen from the Northeast, oil on panel, c. 1628-1630. National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh.

Complete Overview 
With a total of eighteen paintings and a hundred and ten impressions of fifty-four prints, Hercules Segers is the first exhibition to present a complete overview of the artist’s work. Most come from the Rijksmuseum, which holds the largest group of works of art by Hercules Segers in the world. The show also contains prints and paintings from public and private collections in Europe and the United States. An oeuvre catalogue of all the etchings and paintings accompanies the exhibition.  

Hercules Segers, Landscape with a Waterfall, Second Version, line etching with tone and highlights, on a dark pink groundline, varnished, c. 1625-1627. Rijksmuseum.

Rembrandt House Museum: Under Hercules Segers’ Spell: Rembrandt and the Moderns 
Running concurrently with the Hercules Segers exhibition in the Rijksmuseum, the Rembrandt House Museum is devoting an exhibition to Hercules Segers’s influence on Rembrandt and artists in his circle. The exhibition also examines the part Segers played in the development of modern graphic artists such as Max Ernst, Willem van Leusden and Nicolas de Staël.

From 7 October 2016 to 8 January 2017

Hercules Segers, Mountain Valley, Oil on Canvas, Uffizi, Florence.

Hercules Segers, The Tomb of the Horatii and Curiatii, line etching with tone and highlights, coloured with the brush, c. 1628–1629. Rijksmuseum.

 Hercules Segers, Panoramic Landscape with a Town on a River, Oil on panel, c. 1625-1630. Private collection.

Hercules Segers, Panoramic Landscape with Two Towers, Oil on panel, c. 1625-1630. Private collection.

Hercules Segers, A skull, Line etching on cotton, with a grey ground, c. 1618-1622. Rijksmuseum.

Hercules Segers, Distant View with a Road and Mossy Branches, Line etching in dark blue, on cotton with a yellow-grey ground, coloured with the brush, c. 1622–1625. Rijksmuseum.

Sphinx of King Sheshenq, ca. 945-718 B.C.E. Bronze, 1 15/16 x 13/16 x 2 7/8 in. (4.9 x 2.1 x 7.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 33.586. 

DALLAS, TX.- Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt showcases the diverse representations of felines from the world-famous Egyptian holdings of the Brooklyn Museum. From domesticated cats to mythic symbols of divinities, felines played an important role in ancient Egyptian imagery for thousands of years. The exhibition, which explores the roles of cats, lions, and other feline creatures in Egyptian mythology, kingship, and everyday life, is on view October 9, 2016, through January 8, 2017, at the Dallas Museum of Art. 

Figure of Sekhmet Seated, 305-30 B.C.E. Faience, glazed, 3 7/8 x 1 x 1 9/16 in. (9.9 x 2.5 x 4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.944E.

“We are pleased to be able to share these ancient Egyptian artifacts from the Brooklyn Museum’s remarkable holdings with the North Texas community,” said Dr. Agustín Arteaga, the Museum’s Eugene McDermott Director. “This exhibition examines the relationship ancient Egyptians had with cats, which shares many commonalities with today’s society, as well as exploring the role cats played in mythology and the afterlife.” 

Spoon with Jackal Handle, ca. 1539-1292 B.C.E.. Wood, 10 1/4 in. (26 cm) handle: 6 1/4 in. (15.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum. Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.623E. 

Likely first domesticated in ancient Egypt, cats were revered for their fertility and valued for their ability to protect homes and granaries from vermin. But felines were also associated with royalty and closely linked with a number of deities. Combining a lion’s body and a king’s head, sphinxes guarded temple entrances and provided protection as temple objects. The ferocious goddess Sakhmet, depicted as a lioness or lion-headed woman, and the goddess Bastet, represented as a cat or a cat-headed woman, together symbolized the duality of feline nature—caring yet dangerous. The male leonine gods Bes and Tutu were popularly worshipped as protectors of fertility, health and fortune. 

Cat with Kittens. Reportedly from Saqqara, Egypt. Late Period to Ptolemaic Period, Dynasty 26 or later, circa 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, solid-cast and wood, 23⁄8 x 37⁄16 x 115⁄16 in. (6.1 × 8.8 × 5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.406E.

The exhibition features 80 objects exploring wild and domestic cats, feline deities, cat burial practices and luxury items decorated with feline features, as well as a section on the depiction of canines in ancient Egyptian culture. On public view for the first time in the nationally touring exhibition is an extraordinary gilded Leonine Goddess (770–412 B.C.E.), a lion-headed female crouching on a papyrus-shaped base, which entered the Brooklyn Museum collection in 1937; the statuette was conserved for inclusion in Divine Felines. The exhibition’s cats and feline divinities range from a large limestone sculpture of a recumbent lion (305–30 B.C.E.), to a diminutive bronze sphinx of King Sheshenq (945–718 B.C.E.), to a small cast-bronze figurine of a cat nursing four kittens (664–30 B.C.E.). Also presented are furniture and luxury items, decorated with feline features, in many media, including an alabaster bowl fragment, a wooden spoon, a bronze throne support, and a gold and carnelian necklace. 

Funerary Stela of C. Julius Valerius. Egypt, exact provenance unknown, 3rd century C.E. Limestone, traces of paint, 141⁄16 x 103⁄16 x 113⁄16 in. (35.7 × 25.8 × 4.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour, honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.105.

“Cats were an integral part of life in ancient Egypt, both cherished and keenly observed,” stated Dr. Anne Bromberg, The Cecil and Ida Green Curator of Ancient and Asian Art. “Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt presents not only the history of the cat’s role in every aspect of the Egyptians’ lives, but also the artistry of the culture. Part of the appeal of all Egyptian art, and certainly of this exhibition, is that you see art made by people who believed you could take it with you into the next life.” 

Figure of a Cat. From Egypt. Ptolemaic Period–Roman Period, 305 B.C.E.–first century C.E. Wood, gilded gesso, bronze, rock crystal, glass, 259⁄16 x 65⁄16 x 1113⁄16 in. (65 × 16 × 30 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1945E.

Accompanying the exhibition in the Divine Felines education space is the presentation of a mummy mask from the 1st–2nd century from the DMA’s collection and a 19th Dynasty mummy and cartonnage on loan to the DMA from the Bridwell Library Special Collections at Southern Methodist University. Visitors will also be able to listen to stories of the Egyptian deities, learn about mummifications, and sniff fragrances used in ancient Egyptian rituals in the interactive educational gallery.  

Stela with the Gods Bes and Tutu, 332–30 B.C.E. Limestone. Overall: 10 7/16 x 18 3/4 x 3 9/16 in., 47.4 lb. (26.5 x 47.7 x 9 cm, 21.5kg). Brooklyn Museum. Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 58.98

The Museum will celebrate Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt during the October 21 Late Night with an evening exploring life in ancient Egypt, cat deities, and the practice of mummification. On Saturday, October 29, Dr. Bromberg and Dr. Kimberly Jones, The Ellen and Harry S. Parker III Assistant Curator of the Arts of the Americas at the DMA, will discuss mummification traditions in ancient Egypt, the Andes and China during a special Boshell Lecture. Additional programs, including gallery talks, will be scheduled throughout the run of the exhibition. For dates, prices, and details, visit DMA.org. 

Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt is organized by the Brooklyn Museum. The curator of the Dallas presentation is Dr. Anne R. Bromberg, The Cecil and Ida Green Curator of Ancient and Asian Art.

Cat’s Head. From Egypt. Roman Period, 30 B.C.E.–third century C.E. Bronze, gold, 23⁄8 x 13⁄4 x 113⁄16 in. (6 × 4.4 × 4.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.114.

Seated Wadjet. From Egypt. Late Period, Dynasty 26 to Dynasty 31, 664–332 B.C.E. Bronze, 20 1⁄2 x 4 7⁄8 x 9 1⁄2 in. (52.1 × 12.4 × 24.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.622. 

Striding Sphinx Finial. From Egypt. Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 22 to Dynasty 24, circa 945–712 B.C.E. Bronze, 51⁄2 x 15⁄8 x 5 in. (14 × 4.1 × 12.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.20.

Finial with Figure of the God Bes. Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 21 to Dynasty 25, circa 1075–656 B.C.E. Bronze,1515⁄16 x 213⁄16 in. (40.5 × 7.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 46.127.

Leonine Goddess. From Egypt. Third Intermediate Period to Late Period, Dynasty 22 to Dynasty 27, C-14 dated to 770–412 B.C.E. Wood, gilding, plaster, linen, bronze,163⁄4 x 51⁄8 x 61⁄2 in. (42.5 × 13 × 16.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1379E.

Francisco Zurbarán (1598-1664), The Immaculate Conception. Oil on canvas, 128 x 89 cm. Ca.1630. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado. Acquired in 1956.

MADRID.- Following the generation donation made last year by Plácido Arango, the Museo del Prado is organising a new special presentation which on this occasion brings together a group of works within the donation that all share the same subject-matter, that of the Immaculate Conception, one of the most frequently depicted themes among Spanish Golden Age artists, which they used to express changing ideals of female beauty. 

Painted between 1630 and 1680, this specially selected group of works allows for an understanding of how the subject of the Immaculate Conception varied between two types: one that emphasised intimacy, reflection and concentration, and another that made use of Baroque formulas expressed in dynamic, colourful compositions. This display juxtaposes the earliest Immaculate Conception in the donation and the one already in the Prado’s collection, both by Zurbarán. A comparison between the two reveals the different iconographical and compositional options considered by the artist at the start of his career: in comparison to the formal concentration and emotional introspection of the version housed in the Prado since 1956, the work from the Arango Donation is a dynamic work notable for the Virgin’s billowing tunic. 

Francisco Zurbarán (1598-1664), The Immaculate Conception. Oil on canvas, 101.2 x 77.3 cm. 1625 - 1630. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado. 

The second Immaculate Conception by Zurbarán in the donation, dated 1656, forms a connecting link with the rich tradition of depictions of this subject in Seville in the second half of the 17th century and can be compared with the Immaculate Conception by one of the leading representatives of that school, Juan de Valdés Leal. In the latter work, dated 1682, the painter avoids his characteristic compositional dynamism and communicative power in order to offer a delicate, introspective work in which the young Mary is located in an elaborate theological setting.

Francisco Zurbarán (1598-1664), The Immaculate Conception. Oil on canvas, 194.3 x 157 cm. 1656. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado.

Another important focus of production for images on this subject was Madrid, represented here by the donation of an Immaculate Conception by Mateo Cerezo executed around 1660. Its dynamic style and wide chromatic range are traits that contributed to the evolution towards a fully Baroque style in Madrid painting. The exhibition also includes a new addition made by Plácido Arango to his initial donation. This is an Immaculate Conception by Francisco de Herrera the Younger, one of the key names in painting in Seville and Madrid in the mid-17th century although now only known through a relatively small oeuvre. This painting, which will be retained by its owner for his lifetime enjoyment, represents a significant contribution to the Museum’s holdings. 

Mateo Cerezo (1637 - Madrid, 1666), Immaculate Conception. Oil on canvas, 211.5 x 147.5 cm. Ca. 1660. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado.

Lot 3607. An extremely fine and rare large blue and white 'eight immortals' vase, hu, seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795). Estimate 28,000,000 — 35,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 44,440,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's.

sturdily potted of hu form and resting on a short slightly splayed foot, the sloping shoulders applied with a pair of archaistic chilong handles, the exterior of the vessel finely painted in brilliant varying tones of cobalt blue with the Eight Daoist Immortals holding their respective attributes and standing on stylised swirling clouds above frothing waves around the base with sprouting lingzhi and jagged rockwork issuing from the tempestuous waters, the ethereal scene further decorated with outcrops of rock and fruiting peach trees below each handle, all between key-fret bands bordering the mouth and the foot, the base inscribed with a six-character seal mark; 35 cm, 13 3/4  in.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 26th November 1980, lot 270.

Bibliography: Sotheby’s Hong Kong – Twenty Years, 1973-1993, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 174.
Sotheby’s Thirty Years in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2003, pl. 279.

A Magnificent 'Immortals' Vase
Li Baoping

Imperial porcelain of the Qianlong period constitutes a major peak in the historical development of Chinese ceramics and porcelain. This vase in particular is an uncommon and exquisite masterpiece, even compared with other Qianlong ceramics. Its style diverges somewhat from the sumptuous standard of Qianlong porcelain, making it an extremely rare piece indeed. The Palace Museum in Beijing has a double-gourd-shaped vase with an underglaze-blue design of the Eight Immortals that is highly similar to this piece (fig. 1), illustrated in the catalogue for a special exhibition held by the museum: The World Rejoices as One: Celebrating Imperial Birthdays in the Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2015, cat. no. 99. It was mentioned several times in the Qing Archives that a double-gourd-shaped ‘Eight Immortals’ vase was produced in the imperial kilns, including an inventory dated to 34th year of the Qianlong reign (1769) recording a commission of “two large blue and white ‘Jia’-kiln double-gourd-shaped ‘Eight Immortals’ vases” for the birthday celebration of the Empress Dowager; suggesting that the vases were made after the style of the Jiajing period. An example of a Jiajing-marked double-gourd-shaped ‘Eight Immortals’ vase is illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, cat. no. 9-36.

fig. 1. Blue and white ‘Eight Immortals’ ‘double-gourd’ vase, seal mark and period of Qianlong Qing Court collection© Palace Museum, Beijing

It is possible that the current vase was produced for a birthday celebration of the Qianlong Emperor or his Empress. Compared to more frequently seen blue and white ‘Eight Immortals’ designs of the Qing dynasty, the present depiction of the Eight Immortals is evenly spaced across the vessel and executed brightly and boldly. Each of the Eight Immortals is rendered striking a different posture, creating a light-hearted and leisurely scene, vivid and lifelike. The ethereal scene is accentuated with gnarled stems bearing plump, ripe birthday peaches and lingzhi. One immortal is depicted holding a peach in his hand, while another a lingzhi sprig; and Li Tieguai a double-gourd with a few bats rendered soaring  in the sky. This symbolism of health, wealth happiness and auspicious makes it is clear that the immortals are offering birthday greetings to the Queen Mother of the West. The Qianlong Emperor was particularly fond of ceramics decorated with benevolent messages of peace, as discussed in Yu Pei-chin, ‘The Emperor Qianlong’s Ideal Imperial Kiln, as Seen in the Illustrated Album of Ceramics Making’, The National Palace 220 Museum Research Quarterly, vol. 30, no. 3, 2013, pp. 185-235. A close look at this vase shows that it is a large and impressive piece decorated with a serene, pleasing shade of cobalt blue. The brushwork exhibits unparalleled skill: the sea waves are grand and powerful, but not violent; the white clouds are rolling and life-like, evoking the calmness of the ocean, the immensity of the sky and the tranquillity of a peaceful era.

The motif of the Eight Immortals is one most commonly found on bowls and dishes, and is rare to be found on large vessels such as a vase. Consider a Qianlong-marked famille-rose ‘lantern’ vase, which depicts the Eight Immortals as well as the mythical Queen Mother of the West riding a colourful bird, illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong. Qing porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 350, pl. 31. Compare also a Qianlong-marked famille-rose ‘Eight Immortals’ vase,  is illustrated in Lu Minghua, Qingdai Yongzheng-Xuantong guanyao ciqi [Qing dynasty official wares from the Yongzheng to the Xuantong reigns], Shanghai, 2014, pl. 3-50.

Other imperial ceramics have used the characterictic attributes of the Eight Immortals to represent them, including a famille-verte ‘anbaxian’ bowl commissioned in the third year of the Qianlong reign, published in Feng Xianming, Annotated Collection of Historical Documents on Ancient Chinese Ceramics, Taipei, 2000, p. 231. Compare a  Qianlong-marked yellow-ground famille-rose ‘anbaxian’ sgraffiato vase with dragon handles sold in these rooms, 7th April 2015, lot 3608, and now in the collection of the Long Museum, Shanghai. Compare also a Qianlong-marked cloisonné enamel ‘Eight Immortals’ vase in the Palace Museum, Beijing, with each side of the body decorated with a shou character, against a ground of wan symbols, forming the rebus wanshou (‘Endless longevity’), illustrated in The World Rejoices as One, op.cit., cat. no. 104.

The Qianlong Emperor was fond of auspicious symbols like lingzhi fungus, and such symbols often appeared in court art during his reign. This is demonstrated in Picking Spirit Fungus, a painting in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, which was inscribed with a poem by the Qianlong Emperor himself, published in the exhibition catalogue of The All Complete Qianlong: a Special Exhibition on the Aesthetic Tastes of the Qing Emperor Gaozong, Taipei, 2013, pl. I-2014. Another example is a famille-rose lingzhi vase presented to the Emperor in the 16th year of his reign; see Tie Yuanbian, Qing gong ciqi dang'an quanji [The complete collection of Qing dynasty imperial palace records for porcelain], Beijing, 2007, vol. 3, p. 311. See also another Qianlong-marked lingzhi vase sold in these rooms, 7th October 2015, lot 3609. The National Palace Museum in Taipei has in its collection a Qianlong-marked Beijing enamel perfumier with its exterior and base decorateddecorated peaches and lingzhi, published in Enamel Ware in the Ming and Ching Dynasties, Taipei, 1999, cat. no. 132.

The shape of this vase is derived from early bronzes and already appeared during the Yongzheng reign, but was even more frequently found in the Qianlong period. Prized by the Qianlong Emperor, the form can be found in blue and white, famille-rose and even monochrome vessels, including those with Ru-type and guan-type glazes. The particular shape of the vase is sometimes called a ‘deer’s head zun’ or ‘ox’s head zun’. Indeed, famille-rose vessels often featured landscapes with ten or one hundred deer, and these were called ‘hundred-deer jars’, lu being a homophone of both deer and good fortune. In the third year of his reign, the Qianlong Emperor ordered Tang Ying, the supervisor of the imperial kilns, to produce samples of various types of vessels: one such prototype was listed as “a version with no handles of the famille-rose ‘hundred-deer double-handled vase”. However, the Qianlong Emperor must have later come to believe that such vessels appeared more dignified with handles on them, as evidenced by the handles seen on most extant vases of this type. A related example was published in the exhibition catalogue Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch'ien-lung Reign, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2008, cat. no. 51; another similar example was sold in our New York rooms, 16th March 2016, lot 321. There appears to be only one recorded example ‘hundred deer’ vase without handles currently in the collection of Seikadō Bunko Art Museum in Tokyo, illustrated in Seikadō zō Shinchō tōji. Keitokuchin kanyō no bi [Qing dynasty porcelain collected in the Seikado. Beauty of Jingdezhen imperial kilns], Seikado Bunko Art Museum, Tokyo, 2006, p. 69, cat. no. 59. Qianlong-marked blue and white ‘chilong’-handled vases, decorated with large lotus blooms borne on curling scrolls extending across on the body with wan and shou symbols on the neck, flanked by less elaborate chilong handles, are called ‘qinglian’ vessels, homophonous for ‘cleanliness and purity’. Though perhaps rather consistent sample of production, there are not many recorded examples. See one published in the exhibition catalogue, Selected Ceramics from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Hu, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 1989, pl. 62. Another example was sold in our New York rooms, 19th September 2002, lot 148, and later in these rooms, 2nd May 2005, lot 654 (fig. 2). There are also examples of such Qianlong-marked ‘lotus scroll’ vessels, further decorated with dragons. These examples with similar chilong handles as the present piece are even rarer, with only four known examples, including one exhibited by the Ashmolean Museum of Oxford University in 1905 and sold in our London rooms, 9th November 2005, lot 327, and again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3rd June 2015, lot 3128.

Blue and white handled vase, seal mark and period of Qianlong Sotheby’s New York, 19th September 2002, lot 148. Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 2nd May 2005, lot 654.

Large-petal lotus patterned vases with chilong handles date back to the Yongzheng reign. There are examples decorated in underglaze blue and red, but they are extremely rare, see a Yongzheng-marked example published in The Complete Collection of the Treasures of the Palace Museum, Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 91. The current ‘Eight Immortals’ vase has comparably more intricately and finely fashioned handles, similar to those of the Yongzheng reign, and was perhaps made in the early Qianlong period, and the inscription of the seal mark supports this view. Compare a Yongzheng-marked blue and white bowl with the interior decorated with a deer, Shoulao and bats, and the exterior with the Eight Immortals,  illustrated in Qian Zhenzong, Qing dai ciqi shangjian [Appreciation of Qing dynasty porcelain], Hong Kong, 1994, pl. 119, the Eight Immortals decoration on the present piece is comparatively brighter and more vivid.

Sotheby's, Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 oct. 2016

Lot 3612. An extremely fine and rare Ming-style blue and white 'flowers and fruit' moonflask, seal mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735). Estimate 15,000,000 — 20,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 18,080,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's.

finely potted after Ming dynasty prototypes, the circular body surmounted by a slender tubular neck flanked by a pair of scroll handles, superbly painted in washes of cobalt blue accentuated with simulated 'heaping and piling', the globular body decorated with an upper register of three leafy flowering sprays alternating with the lower register of three leafy fruiting sprays, including peony blooms and clusters of loquat and lychee, the neck detailed with floral blooms wreathed by leafy stems, between bands of 'classic' scrollwork and stylised trefoil lappets encircling the rim and shoulder, the handles picked out with scrolling motifs, all above a frieze of upright petal lappets skirting the foot, the countersunk base inscribed with a six-character seal mark; 28.9 cm, 11 3/8  in.

Provenance: Collection of B.C. Tattenhall.
Sotheby's London, 12th December 1989, lot 330.
Christie's Hong Kong, 29th April 2001, lot 566.

Notes: This present exquisite moonflask represents the height of early Qing porcelain production at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province. Made during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor, it illustrates the Emperor’s pursuit of innovative designs and forms as well as the replication of historical masterpieces as a reminder of the nation’s glorious past. Such developments were realised through the exceptional talent and creativity of potters working under the instruction of Tang Ying (1682-1756), the most accomplished Superintendent at Jingdezhen during the early Qing period.

Tang was employed by the Neiwufu [Imperial Household Department] in the Forbidden City at the age of sixteen where he was trained in the arts of enamelling and painting at the Enamelling Workshops located in the Yangxindian [Hall of Mental Cultivation], within the Imperial Palace grounds. He was exposed to the many beautiful artefacts from the Imperial collection that became his inspiration for new and innovative shapes and designs later in his career. In 1728, he was appointed commissioner (yuanwailang) by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and was transferred to supervise ceramics production at Jingdezhen. Under his direction, that lasted more than two decades, porcelain manufacture at Jingdezhen rose to unprecedented levels which had far reaching influence on ceramics manufacture both in China and in the West. Tang was not only famed for his porcelain designs, known as Tangyao or Tang ware, but also for his painting, calligraphy, poetry and seal carving.

This moonflask combines two innovations of Yongle period (1403-24) ceramics; the sensitive form with scroll handles and the elegant design of branches of flowers and fruit. While Yongle moonflasks of this type were more often decorated with a single fruiting branch on each side, and in turn inspired by leather pilgrim bottles of the Eastern Han (25-220) and Tang (618-906) periods, the design of either six or ten sprays was reserved for meiping. Meiping depicting ten branches were larger in size, painted with ruyi panels on the shoulder and lappets at the foot and potted with matching covers while their smaller uncovered counterparts featured six branches between a lappet band and stiff leaf border at the shoulder and foot respectively. This Qing moonflask fuses the two slightly varying designs by placing the two registers of six branches between a ruyi and lappet band and adapting the design to fit the form. For a Yongle version of this moonflask, see one decorated with a fruiting lychee branch, from the Henry J. Oppenheimer Collection and now in the British Museum, London, included in the exhibition Ming. 50 Years that Changed China, British Museum, London, 2014, cat. no. 83 (left).

During the reign of the Yongle Emperor potters at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen developed an assured yet soft painting style with ‘heaping and piling’ which helped them develop a rich repertoire of fruit and flower motifs. See a meiping in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang Ming chu qinghua ci [Early Ming blue-and-white porcelain in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2002, pl. 15 and p. 34, where the author notes that the vase embodies the archetypal Yongle style. While the decoration on the present vase is a Yongzheng interpretation of the Yongle motif, it is intentionally painted in the Ming style to evoke the glorious past. Another early Ming period influence is the generous spacing left white between the decorative elements. This effective design technique, first seen on Yongle blue and white pieces, allowed the artist to be more lively and free with his brushwork and to create a composition that is more painterly and less stylised. 

The decoration of three blossoming floral branches above and between three blooming and fruiting branches is also rich in auspicious symbolism. Similar decoration of fruiting branches and floral branches in cobalt may be found on a Yongzheng mark and period ovoid vase, with moulded petal lappets around the foot, in the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Hong Kong, 2000, pl. 78; another, in the Huaihaitang Collection, included in the exhibition Ethereal Elegance, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2008, cat. no. 88; and two larger examples, one sold twice in these rooms, 21st May 1984, lot 89, and 20th November 1985, lot 69, and again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 8th October 1990, lot 338, from the Jarras Collection, and the second vase, from the collection of Evelyn Annenberg Hall, sold at Christie’s New York, 29th March 2006, lot 158, and again in these rooms, 8th October 2013, lot 3036.

Examples of similarly rendered fruiting branches are seen on a pear-shaped vase, attributed to the Yongzheng period, sold in these rooms, 18th/19th May 1982, lot 208; and another ovoid vase sold in these rooms, 12th May 1976, lot 133. This motif continued to be used during the succeeding reign of the Qianlong Emperor, seen for example on a meiping, from the Edward T. Chow Collection, sold in these rooms, 9th May 1981, lot 546; and another published in Chinese Porcelain. The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, pl. 63, where the author discusses this group of Qing blue and white wares as painted with ‘re-designs’ of Yongle patterns with changes in detail, particularly in the borders and with simulated ‘heaping and piling’ of cobalt blue.

Sotheby's, Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 oct. 2016

Lot 3650. A fine ru-type octagonal vase, seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795). Estimate 400,000 — 600,000 HKD. Unsold. Photo Sotheby's.

well proportioned and potted of facetted octagonal form, the tapered body gently sweeping up to a wide shoulder and surmounted by a waisted neck and flared rim, all supported on a short splayed foot of corresponding form, evenly covered overall save for the footring with a lustrous and luminous pale greyish-blue glaze densely suffused with fine crackles, the base with an underglaze-blue six-character seal mark, wood stand; 33.1 cm, 13 in.

Notes: Deceptively simple in form and design, this vase contrasts markedly with the richly ornamented decorative style that is generally associated with the Qianlong period, and is a fine example of the skill of the potters in Jingdezhen in creating a subtle and smooth glaze in imitation of Ru ware, one of the ‘five great wares’ of the Song period. This vase thus reflects the Qianlong Emperor’s penchant for these early wares, which he not only collected but also commissioned the imperial kilns to recreate or imitate.

A closely related vase was included in the exhibition Shichō Tōji [Porcelain of the Qing dynasty], Kunryudo, Tokyo, 1995, cat. no. 36; three were sold in these rooms, the first, 2nd May 2005, lot 693, and again, 5th October 2011, lot 1989, the second, 19th May 1982, lot 274, and the third, 23rd October 2005, lot 321, and sold again in our New York rooms, 16th September 2009, lot 215; another vase was sold in our London rooms, 8th November 2006, lot 75; and a further example was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 31st May 2010, lot 2013. See also a very similar Ru-type octagonal vase offered in this sale, lot 3658.

An octagonal ru-type octagonal vase, seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795). Sold 110,500 USD at Sotheby's New York, 16th September 2009, lot 215. Photo: Sotheby's

A rare facetted ru-type vase, Qianlong six-character sealmark and of the period (1736-1795). Price Realised  HKD 500,000 (USD 64,712) at Christie’s Hong Kong, 31st May 2010, lot 2013. Photo Christie's Images Ltd 2013.

Sotheby's, Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 oct. 2016

Lot 3649. A 'bronze-imitation' tea-dust glazed and gilt-splashed 'chilong' bottle vase, seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795). Estimate 600,000 — 800,000 HKD. Unsold. Photo Sotheby's.

of elegant pear shape, the compressed globular body rising from a short splayed foot to a tall cylindrical neck, covered overall in a gilt-speckled olive-green glaze, applied with a gilt-decorated archaisticchilong clambering around the tapering shoulder, the mythical beast finely detailed with a combed mane and a well-defined body terminating in a bifurcated tail sweeping up the slender neck, the base inscribed in gilt with a six-character seal mark, wood stand; 14.8 cm, 5 3/4  in.

Provenance: An old Japanese collection.

Notes: This vase is unusual for the finely gilded sinuous chilong applied on the shoulders of the vessel. This type of decoration is known on Longquan celadon vases from as early as the 8th century, although it gradually waned during the Ming dynasty and mainly used by potters in Dehua, Fujian province. This motif was revived at the beginning of the Qing dynasty, when sinuous chilong were applied on vases covered in a variety of glazes.

Compare a related vase sold in these rooms, 7th October 2015, lot 3682; a larger tea-dust glazed vase similarly applied with a chilong, but lacking the mark, illustrated in Qingdai taoci Daquan [An encyclopaedia of Qing porcelain], Taipei, 1989, pl. 99; another of facetted form, in the British Museum, London, published in Soame Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain. The Ch’ing Dynasty, London, 1951, pl. CV, no. 2a.

Sotheby's, Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 oct. 2016

Lot 3655. A fine guan-type bottle vase, seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795). Estimate 400,000 — 600,000 HKD. Unsold. Photo Sotheby's.

sturdily potted with a compressed globular body tapering to a tall tubular neck, all supported on a short splayed foot, covered overall save for the unglazed footring with an even pale greyish-celadon glaze densely suffused with a network of crackles simulating 'iron wire' and 'gold thread' of Song dynasty Guan ware, the base inscribed with an underglaze-blue six-character seal mark; 30.5 cm, 12 in.

Sotheby's, Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 oct. 2016

Lot 257. A large Mughal diamond and emerald-set jade hilt, India, 18th-19th century. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby's.

the pale green jade of pistol-grip form with rounded pommel and scroll quillons, decorated with flowering stems of inlaid gold set with emeralds and facet-cut diamonds, featuring a carved emerald crest; 14.5cm. height.

Notes: Mughal princes, nobles and high officials were honoured regularly by the Emperor with daggers, knives and swords, which were worn as symbols of the wearer’s status. The present hilt would have formed part of an impressive dagger, indicating the high rank and esteem of its original owner.

The origin of the pistol-grip form has been likened to early bird-head form hilts by Stuart Cary Welch who places its development to the Deccan in the early seventeenth century. Susan Stronge on the other hand suggests a dating to the second-half of the seventeenth century due to the absence of this form in Mughal paintings beforehand (Jaffer 2013, p.187, no.53). The popularity of this form is attested by the many models created in various media, including steel, ivory and gold. Jade, as in the present example, was particularly favoured, and the inclusion of gemstones set in the kundan technique enhances its opulent appearance. Kundan is a technique by which precious stones are set into hyper-purified gold refined into strips of malleable foil which develop an adhesive quality at room temperature. On the present example the diamonds are flat-cut to highlight their reflection, and the emeralds carved to bring out their colour. 

Sotheby's. Arts of the Islamic World, London, 19 Oct 2016, 11:30 AM

Lot 256. A large gem-set carved jade pandan, India, 19th century. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby's.

of octagonal form with slightly domed lid, carved with eight faceted sides and raised chevron borders, flowerhead to centre, decorated in the kundan technique with diamonds and rubies, underside with carved stylised flowerhead, in custom velvet-lined box; 6cm. height.
14cm. max. diam.

Notes: This pandan box was designed for the chewing of pan, which involves the mixing of thin slices of the nut of the areca palm with lime paste enveloped in a fresh leaf of the betel tree (Zebrowski 1997, p.263). The associations of the habit with a leisurely lifestyle imbued it with connotations of courtly life. In a miniature of 1570, depicting the Sultan of Ahmadnagar, the use of pan seems to be used as emblemmatic of royal status (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, inv.no.Supplément persan 1572, fol.26). In a relatively large container such as this, with no internal divisions, it is assumed that its purpose was the storage of the unassembled materials for betel chewing. 

Sotheby's. Arts of the Islamic World, London, 19 Oct 2016, 11:30 AM

Lot 253. A Mughal horse head-hilted jade dagger, India, 18th century. Estimate 18,000 — 25,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby's.

the pale-green jade pommel with areas of darker inclusions, carved in the form of a horse's head with mane flowing to one side, flowerhead and leaf motifs near edge, the slightly curved, double-edged steel blade with central ridge and gold overlaid motifs at forte ; 45cm.  

Sotheby's. Arts of the Islamic World, London, 19 Oct 2016, 11:30 AM

Lot 254. A Mughal jade-hilted dagger (khanjar) with scabbard, India, 18th century. Estimate 12,000 — 18,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby's.

the jade hilt carved with five large mulberries at pommel, the external one with a diamond set in gold, carved throughout with floral palmettes, the knuckle-guard designed as a stem terminating in a lotus bud, double-edged watered-steel blade with central ridge and medallion with gold decoration and inscription, velvet-covered wood scabbard with matching jade mounts. Quantity: 2; 43cm. 

Literature: R. Hales, Islamic and Oriental Arms and Armour: A Lifetime's Passion, London, 2013, p.49, no.106.

inscriptions: Undeciphered (possibly names)

A similar example, also with its surviving knuckle-guard (a rarity), is in the Al-Thani collection, London (Jaffer 2013, pp.186-7, no.52). 

Sotheby's. Arts of the Islamic World, London, 19 Oct 2016, 11:30 AM

Loot 283. A lobed spinach-green jade plaque, Turkey or Persia, 17th-18th century. Estimate 3,000 — 4,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby's.

the spinach-green jade carved as a poly-lobed arch with vertical drill hole for hanging; 8.3 by 8cm.  

Sotheby's. Arts of the Islamic World, London, 19 Oct 2016, 11:30 AM

Lot 3654. A rare large celadon-glazed 'dragon' charger, seal mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735). Estimate 600,000 — 800,000 HKD. Lot sold 2,000,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's.

modelled after Longquan celadon ware, sturdily potted with shallow rounded sides rising from a short foot to an everted flat rim, the exterior moulded and carved with overlapping lotus petals, the interior with a medallion enclosing a stylised dragon amidst ruyi-shaped cloud scrolls, applied evenly overall save for the unglazed footring with a pale green glaze, the base inscribed with an underglaze-blue six-character seal mark; 47 cm, 18 1/2  in.

Notes: A Yongzheng dish of this pattern in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., is illustrated in Michael Beurdeley and Guy Raindre, ed., Qing Porcelain, London, 1987, pl. 231; another is published in The Tsui Museum of Art. Chinese Ceramics, vol. IV, Hong Kong, 1991, pl. 125; and one from the T.Y. Chao Collection, included in the exhibition Ming and Ch’ing Porcelain, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1978, cat. no. 46, was sold in these rooms, 19th May 1987, lot 286.

For the original inspiration of this design, compare two Longquan celadon dishes, carved with dragons amongst clouds, in the Kunst Museum, Dusseldorf, included in the Museum’s exhibition Chinesisches Keramik, Dusseldorf, 1965, cat. nos. 86 and 88.

Sotheby's, Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 oct. 2016

Lot 3698. A fine blue and white 'chrysanthemum' jar, Mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735). Estimate 700,000 — 900,000 HKD. Lot sold 1,625,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's.

well potted with an ovoid body rising to a gently rounded shoulder and surmounted by a tapering neck, the exterior of the body decorated in rich cobalt tones with four medallions, each modelled in the form of four chrysanthemum blooms encircling a central large one and decorated with foliate scrolls, all between bands of swirling petal lappets and upright leaves, the countersunk base with a six-character reign mark within a double-circle; 13.8 cm, 5 3/8  in.

Notes: A slightly larger jar of this design, with its matching cover, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the Museum’s Special Exhibition of K’ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch’ien-lung porcelain Ware from the Ch’ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, cat. no. 28.

Jars decorated with chrysanthemum medallions are more commonly known painted in the doucai palette; see for example a jar painted with medallions of two chrysanthemums separated by floral sprays, illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art. Chinese Ceramics, vol. IV, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 145; and another sold twice at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st May 1994, lot 692, and 3rd November 1998, lot 957.

Sotheby's, Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 oct. 2016