A Chinese cinnabar wall vase with imperial poem

18th century

With two seals and imperial poem to plaque.

H: 9 1/4, W: 4 1/4, D: 1 3/4 in. (H: 23.5, W: 10.8, D: 4.45 cm.)

Provenance: Estate, New York.

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This cinnabar wall vase features a flaring mouth, with two copper kui-shaped ears on the sides of the neck. The body is covered with tiling patterns and the mouth rim adorned with a belt of ruyi patterns. The intricate ornamentation continues onto the neck with tangled peony patterns and baoxiang flower patterns on the shoulders. The central region of the vase is inlaid with a poem inscribed on a gilded copper plaque. The foot is adorned with floral carvings. The bottom and the backside are painted black. Due to Emperor Qianlong's love for cinnabar, the technique rapidly developed during his reign, reaching a historical peak. Qianlong also wrote numerous poems praising cinnabar, and he was so fond of wall-hung cinnabar wares that he wrote six poems just to praise them. During that period, most of the cinnabar wares were produced by the Yangxindian Imperial Workshop or outsourced to studios in Suzhou, and this wall vase was one of them. It possesses a unique form that finely combines cinnabar and copper, requiring a far more demanding production than ordinary cinnabar wares. This, in conjunction with the imperial inscription, increases its value even more.

The Palace Museum, No. 00108958, figure 1;

No. 00119000, figure 2.

Beijing Poly, Spring 2015, Lot 7814.

此件紅雕漆壁瓶撇口，頸部左右各鑲有銅製夔龍耳，滿工錦地紋，口沿雕有滿圈如意紋，頸部爲纏枝牡丹紋，肩部飾以寶相花紋。瓶腹部鑲有御製銅鎏金並題詩詞，內容出自欽定四庫全書，御製詩三集卷二十七，與故宮博物院館藏景泰藍大吉瓶所寫內容一致。底部雕有花卉紋，背部及底部爲黑漆。由於乾隆帝酷愛雕漆，清乾隆時期雕漆工藝得以蓬勃發展，百工炫巧爭奇，料不厭精，工不厭細，雕漆工藝達到了漆工藝史上最高的水平，雕漆製品的數量也非常巨大，現存乾隆御製詩中詠雕漆的詩文即有幾十首。乾隆帝極爲喜愛這種半體之器，曾先後作詩六首加以贊詠。當時的雕漆多爲養心殿造辦處製造或交由蘇州承做，本件拍品就是其中一件。其造型獨特，採用了銅耳與雕漆的完美結合，工藝比普通雕漆更爲複雜，加上御題詩詞，更顯珍貴。

故宮博物院館藏，編號故00108958、見圖１；編號故00119000，見圖２。北京保利2015年春拍，編號7814。

Scattered chipping to body and cracking throughout. Cracking and repair to underside.