A rare hardstone-inlaid lacquer 'antiques and auspicious fruit' table screen

Qianlong

Footnotes

清乾隆 黃漆嵌百寶博古圖插屏

Provenance:
The Princess Mary, Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood (1897-1965),
and by descent at Harewood House, Yorkshire
Christie's London, South Kensington, Harewood: Collecting in the Royal Tradition, 5 December 2012, lot 570

來源：
瑪麗長公主，哈伍德伯爵夫人（1897-1965）舊藏
後由約克郡哈伍德莊園家族繼承
倫敦佳士得，南肯辛頓，「哈伍德莊園：皇家風範」專拍，2012年12月5日，拍品編號570

Opulent embellished lacquer panels such as the present lot utilising prized materials set onto lacquer surfaces, were used within the Imperial palaces as hanging panels, table screens raised on wood stands, and incorporated within furniture such as Imperial thrones and cabinets. See The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (II), Hong Kong, 2002, nos.18, 19, 180, 182, and 183; and see also two related hanging panels in the Cui Yun Guan, Hall of Green Cloud, in the Forbidden City, illustrated ibid., no.262. Such inlaid lacquer panels could have been made by the Imperial Workshops, Zaobanchu, or commissioned or given as Imperial tribute from workshops in Guangdong or Suzhou, see a related ivory-inlaid lacquer screen incorporated within a zitan screen and stand, Qianlong/Jiaqing, illustrated in Tributes from Guangdong to the Qing Court, Hong Kong, 1987, no.86. Similar lacquer embellished representation of 'antiques' and auspicious flowers and plants was also used on smaller scale objects such as boxes, see a related box, 18th century, decorated with 'antiques', nandina, pine and prunus made in Suzhou, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated by E.S.Rawski and J.Rawson, eds., China: The Three Emperors 1662 - 1795, London, 2005, no.289.

The decoration on the present screen is associated with several auspicious wishes. The combination of lily bulbs (baihe 百合) and nandina (wannianqing 萬年青) forms the rebus hehe wannian 和合萬年, which represents the blessing of 'ten thousand years of harmonious union'. Furthermore, when a finger citron, a peach and pomegranate appear together, they form a motif known as the 'Three Abundances', sanduo 三多, which symbolises longevity, blessings and many sons. These wishes are further reinforced by the ruyi sceptre, meaning 'as you wish' which incorporates the lingzhi fungus form, symbolising the wish for longevity.

The archaistic gu vase relates to the wish to draw inspiration from the virtues of antiquity by contemporary craftsmen taking inspiration from archaic forms and designs. This was strongly advocated by the Qianlong Emperor, as noted by Chang Li-tuan, The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch'ing Court, Taipei, 1997, pp.49-50.

See a related jade, ivory and hardstone inlaid lacquer panel, Qianlong, which was sold in our London Rooms, 15 May 2014, lot 373.

插屏邊框硬木製。屏心黃漆地，上以青玉、壽山石、象牙、軟木等百寶嵌博古歲朝圖，一花觚置於台几，花觚內插萬年青及百合各一枝，寓意「和合萬年」，花觚後置一籃，內盛佛手、荸薺、菱角、石榴，周邊以如意、瓜果相稱、古雅清新。

插屏在宮中普遍使用，種類多樣，大小不一，與此拍品同類大小的插屏，則多用於書桌或案頭陳設，既有實用功能，亦具觀賞性。百寶嵌製品設計原料繁多、加工複雜，需要多種工藝技巧相互配合，因此成為了明清宮廷中一種特殊的藝術門類。清宮中有一部分家具及插屏都採用了漆地嵌百寶工藝作為裝飾，見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集：明清家具（下）》，香港，2002年，編號18，19，180，182及183；另見北京故宮翠雲館內隔扇一側牆上所掛紫檀百寶嵌博古圖掛屏，紋飾與工藝均與本拍品相當，同著錄，編號262。此類嵌百寶工藝通常由宮廷內造辦處，或是蘇州及廣州作坊製作，類似一件清乾隆/嘉慶漆地嵌百寶插屏，見《清代廣東貢品》，香港，1987年，編號86。類似的博古圖或歲朝圖亦出現在其他嵌百寶用器上，如一件十八世紀嵌百寶漆盒，著錄於E.S.Rawski及J.Rawson，《China: The Three Emperors 1662 - 1795》，倫敦，2005年，編號289。

倫敦邦瀚斯曾售出一件十八世紀漆地嵌百寶博古圖掛屏，可資對比，2014年5月15日，拍品編號373。