A very rare pair of Imperial iron-red reading lamps, shudeng

Daoguang seal marks and of the period

Footnotes

清道光 礬紅描金福壽纏枝蓮紋書燈一對
礬紅「大清道光年製」篆書款

Provenance:
Maurice Marchant de Vernouillet (1829-1898), Second Secretary to the French Ambassador in Beijing, 1861-1862.

Published and Illustrated:
Marchant Ltd., 90th Anniversary Exhibition: Qing Porcelain from Private Collections, London, May 2015, no.46 and back cover.

來源：
1861-1862年間法國駐北京大使館二等秘書，莫瑞斯·馬尚·維爾努耶（1829-1898）舊藏

出版及著錄：
倫敦古董商Marchant Ltd.，《九十週年紀念展：私人收藏清代瓷器》，2015年5月，編號46及封底

Augustin 'Maurice' Marchant de Vernouillet (1829-1898) was the Second Secretary to the French Ambassador in Beijing from 1861-1862. He was awarded the following honours: Officer of the Legion of Honour, Officer of the Academy, Commemorative Medal for the China Campaign, Grand Cross of Isabella the Catholic, Commander of Charles III, Officer of Mededick, Knight of the Order of Pius IX, Order of St Maurice and Lazarus, Order of Independence of Montenegro. He was the son of Augustin Marchant de Vernouillet, who built the famous Chateau de la Caillotiere in Anjou, France.

莫瑞斯·馬尚·維爾努耶（1829-1898）為1861至1862期間法國駐北京大使館的二等秘書，他曾獲得眾多榮譽勳章，包括法國政府頒授的最高榮譽勳位勳章、學院軍官章、遠東戰役勳章、西班牙皇家十字勳章、查爾斯三世勳章、庇護九世騎士勳章等等。其父奧古斯丁·馬尚·維爾努耶則是位於法國安茹地區著名的科爾尼艾爾堡的建造人。

The present pair of iron-red reading lamps is extremely rare and no other Imperial Daoguang reading lamps of such type appear to be recorded. The smaller, more intimate, size and form of the pair of lamps is similar to that of Qianlong-period ones, which are recorded to have been especially made for use in the zhuzhai or Imperial reading room and referred to as shudeng, reading lamps, rather than la tai or 'wax lamp'. It is therefore very likely that the present candlesticks or 'reading lamps' as they should be called, were likewise specially commissioned for the use by the Daoguang Emperor in his Imperial reading room or study.

Compare a blue and white pricket candlestick of similar size (13.5cm), Qianlong mark and period, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Blue and White Ware of the Ch'ing Dynasty: Book II, Hong Kong, 1968, p.66, pls.23-23B; and another in the Nanjing Museum, illustrated in Treasures in the Royalty: The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinse Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p.310; for a pair of famille rose sgraffiato ruby-ground candlesticks, Qianlong marks and period, 1744, also made for use as reading lamps, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, see Liao Pao Show, Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch'ien-Lung Reign, Taipei, 2008, pp.96-98, no.24.

For an unmarked pair dated to the Jiaqing period, see R.Scott, An Exhibition of Important Chinese Porcelains from the Robert Chang Collection, London, 1993, pp.214-215, no.102.

書燈分段燒造，大、中、小三層圓盤以中柱相串，分別是燈盞托盤，中層蠟盤和底層托盤。外壁以釉上礬紅裝飾，頂盤以簡單花瓣點綴。中盤折沿飾纏枝蓮紋，內心飾三朵纏枝蓮，並以描金壽字紋相間。底層托盤亦飾對應的纏枝蓮紋大小兩圈，邊沿外壁則飾迴紋一周。中柱上柱繪連珠、卷草、蝙蝠，下柱繪仰覆蓮瓣、忍冬、朵花紋飾、近底托處再以描金線勾勒，紋飾超過十餘層，紋樣繁縟，工藝考究。底部飾綠松石釉，並以礬紅書「大清道光年製」篆書款。

以礬紅為飾之書燈，傳世品中極為稀少，道光時期同式之例，目前尚未所見有其他著錄。此對書燈器形及紋飾繼承乾隆時期唐英奉旨督造御題詩青花瓷燈，造型雖與五供之燭台相似，但用途截然不同，為清代宮廷文房器具，置於書齋作陳設之用。

參看台北國立故宮博物院藏一件清乾隆青花御題詩番蓮書燈（13.5厘米高），著錄於《故宮藏瓷：青花瓷二》，香港，1968年，頁66，圖版23/23B；南京博物館亦藏乾隆青花一例，見《宮廷珍藏中國清代官窯瓷器》，上海，2003年，頁310；另見台北故宮藏清乾隆磁胎洋彩書燈一對，著錄於廖寶秀主編，《華麗彩瓷：乾隆洋彩》，台北，2008年，頁96-96，編號24。

另見張宗憲先生舊藏嘉慶一例，著錄於Rosemary Scott，《雲海閣藏瓷》，倫敦，1993年，頁214-125，編號102。