Decade 1740-1749
See also : Canaletto Colonial America China Chinese porcelain Qianlong Qing porcelain Chinese art Chinese calligraphy 18th century furniture
early Qianlong - A Pair of Double Gourds
2017 SOLD for £ 14.7M including premium
The porcelains of double gourd type are developed under the reign of the Yongzheng emperor. They reach a great elegance with his successor Qianlong : the much smaller upper bulb is often linked by two handles to the globular lower part. When the technique used for the decoration is among the most refined, these pieces are kept in high esteem by the connoisseurs. The remainder of this essay is limited to vases from the Qianlong period.
The vase without handles that sold for HK $ 252M including premium at Sotheby's on October 7, 2010 over a lower estimate of HK $ 30M was an exceptional piece with its pale yellow background, its height of 40 cm, its long cylindrical neck above the upper bulb and its sgraffiato incisions.
Among the vases with handles let us consider a blue and white 23 cm high with a pattern of lotus leaves, sold for HK $ 24M including premium by Christie's on December 1, 2010.
Pairs are extremely rare. One of them recently discovered in an English country house will be sold by Christie's in London on May 9, lot 99. Each vase has the same shape and size as the blue and white example described above.
In the same style of decoration, the details of both vases in that pair are different. They are painted with flowers and butterflies in yangcai enamels in an accumulation of auspices and symbols of seasons that was probably prepared for the birthday of some prestigious people. For the rebus so enjoyed at the imperial court the butterfly means 'repetition' by homophony, doubling the message of the auspice and the prediction of longevity.
The ground porcelain of this pair is pure white according to a usual practice during the Yongzheng period. Considering that a pink ground has been appreciated under Qianlong for pieces of the same theme, it is possible that this pair bearing his imperial mark was made early in his reign.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's :
The vase without handles that sold for HK $ 252M including premium at Sotheby's on October 7, 2010 over a lower estimate of HK $ 30M was an exceptional piece with its pale yellow background, its height of 40 cm, its long cylindrical neck above the upper bulb and its sgraffiato incisions.
Among the vases with handles let us consider a blue and white 23 cm high with a pattern of lotus leaves, sold for HK $ 24M including premium by Christie's on December 1, 2010.
Pairs are extremely rare. One of them recently discovered in an English country house will be sold by Christie's in London on May 9, lot 99. Each vase has the same shape and size as the blue and white example described above.
In the same style of decoration, the details of both vases in that pair are different. They are painted with flowers and butterflies in yangcai enamels in an accumulation of auspices and symbols of seasons that was probably prepared for the birthday of some prestigious people. For the rebus so enjoyed at the imperial court the butterfly means 'repetition' by homophony, doubling the message of the auspice and the prediction of longevity.
The ground porcelain of this pair is pure white according to a usual practice during the Yongzheng period. Considering that a pink ground has been appreciated under Qianlong for pieces of the same theme, it is possible that this pair bearing his imperial mark was made early in his reign.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's :
£2 Million Qianlong Emperor vases found by an expert during routine eval., will be sold at #Christies May 9thhttps://t.co/1vTNRboDsG pic.twitter.com/OcZxtHkx91
— ePaiLive (@ePaiLive) May 2, 2017
1740-1744 A Pair of Double Gourd Vases
2012 SOLD 107 MHK$ including premium
Under the Qing Dynasty, porcelain is a multidisciplinary art. The craftsmen are encouraged to seek the perfection: pottery must be complex and flawless, enamel must be multicolored and bright, decoration must be symbolic and aesthetic.
Qianlong, in this area as in so many others, is a great raiser of progress. A pair of vases 18cm high, estimated HK $ 40M, for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 9, is an interesting and amazing example from the beginning of his reign.
The double gourd shape is a feat of this art, with its bulb in the middle of the neck and the pretty winding handles. On a yellow background, they are decorated with a circle of five bats in iron red which are a blessing for longevity. The variety of colors is the culmination of the enamel technique known as famille rose.
The vases of more usual design bearing the mark of Qianlong are often difficult to date in this long reign of six decades. The tour de force required to one of the most skilled craftsmen in Jingdezhen to create this type of porcelain known as yangcai was maintained for only a few years, between the fifth and ninth year of his reign, from 1740 to 1744 in our calendar.
Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Amidst the wide variety of Qianlong vases, that lot was of extreme rarity and the explanations in the catalogue were convincing. The pair was sold HK $ 107M including premium.
Qianlong, in this area as in so many others, is a great raiser of progress. A pair of vases 18cm high, estimated HK $ 40M, for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 9, is an interesting and amazing example from the beginning of his reign.
The double gourd shape is a feat of this art, with its bulb in the middle of the neck and the pretty winding handles. On a yellow background, they are decorated with a circle of five bats in iron red which are a blessing for longevity. The variety of colors is the culmination of the enamel technique known as famille rose.
The vases of more usual design bearing the mark of Qianlong are often difficult to date in this long reign of six decades. The tour de force required to one of the most skilled craftsmen in Jingdezhen to create this type of porcelain known as yangcai was maintained for only a few years, between the fifth and ninth year of his reign, from 1740 to 1744 in our calendar.
Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Amidst the wide variety of Qianlong vases, that lot was of extreme rarity and the explanations in the catalogue were convincing. The pair was sold HK $ 107M including premium.
Tianqiuping for the Qianlong Emperor
2018 SOLD for HK$ 130M including premium
The shape of a vase is important to accompany its message. To present wishes of longevity to the Emperor of China, it is recommended to offer a vessel symbolizing the celestial sphere with which the Son of Heaven is the only intercessor on Earth. The tianqiuping form is a round body surmounted by a very slightly concave collar. The biggest pieces are the most appreciated but they represent a technical feat because of the risk of tilting the neck during heating.
The Qing artist has the choice between several decoration techniques : doucai, wucai, fencai. Doucai brings an additional difficulty. The blue is made in its final outline before making the glaze on which the enamels of the other colors will then be applied. The porosity of the raw material must be compatible with the desired fineness of the drawing. An asymmetry created by the first heating damages a doucai figure irreparably.
On May 30 in Hong Kong, Christie's sells a 54 cm high doucai tianqiuping that is close to technological limits beyond which imperfections of shape are inevitable. It is estimated HK $ 70M, lot 8888. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This vase bearing the imperial mark of Qianlong is decorated with the emblems of the eight immortals of Taoism. This theme is rare for this emperor who preferred Buddhism. The recording in the imperial archives during the third year of the reign (1738 CE) of a tiangqiuping in wucai of similar illustration may be a post quem terminus.
Considered separately, all these elements are in the taste of Yongzheng. The death of this emperor did not stop the imperial incitement to the potters in Jingdezhen to perform the technical feats of the highest virtuosity. The script of the imperial mark of Qianlong is a model in use according to some experts between the 7th and the 35th year of the reign. A date around the 1740s CE appears plausible.
For similar auspices, peaches, another symbol of immortality, are a favorite theme for a tianqiuping throughout the reigns of Yongzheng and Qianlong. Two 51 cm and 55 cm high Qianlong yangcai vases without an estimate of date within his 60 year long reign were sold by Sotheby's : HK $ 90M including premium on October 5, 2011 and HK $ 63M including premium on October 7, 2015.
The Qing artist has the choice between several decoration techniques : doucai, wucai, fencai. Doucai brings an additional difficulty. The blue is made in its final outline before making the glaze on which the enamels of the other colors will then be applied. The porosity of the raw material must be compatible with the desired fineness of the drawing. An asymmetry created by the first heating damages a doucai figure irreparably.
On May 30 in Hong Kong, Christie's sells a 54 cm high doucai tianqiuping that is close to technological limits beyond which imperfections of shape are inevitable. It is estimated HK $ 70M, lot 8888. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This vase bearing the imperial mark of Qianlong is decorated with the emblems of the eight immortals of Taoism. This theme is rare for this emperor who preferred Buddhism. The recording in the imperial archives during the third year of the reign (1738 CE) of a tiangqiuping in wucai of similar illustration may be a post quem terminus.
Considered separately, all these elements are in the taste of Yongzheng. The death of this emperor did not stop the imperial incitement to the potters in Jingdezhen to perform the technical feats of the highest virtuosity. The script of the imperial mark of Qianlong is a model in use according to some experts between the 7th and the 35th year of the reign. A date around the 1740s CE appears plausible.
For similar auspices, peaches, another symbol of immortality, are a favorite theme for a tianqiuping throughout the reigns of Yongzheng and Qianlong. Two 51 cm and 55 cm high Qianlong yangcai vases without an estimate of date within his 60 year long reign were sold by Sotheby's : HK $ 90M including premium on October 5, 2011 and HK $ 63M including premium on October 7, 2015.
1742 A Longquan Vase for the Audience Hall
2020 SOLD for HK$ 70M including premium
The Qianlong emperor promoted the copy of the best works of art from the past with the most recent techniques so that the achievements of his reign would appear as the pinnacle of civilization.
Superintendent Tang Ying was commissioning to the Jingdezhen workshops the most sensational pieces of porcelain capable of being approved by the emperor himself. One of his most remarkable breakthroughs was the development of yangcai enamels, a less expensive replacement for the falangcai which could only be made in a small workshop of the Beijing palace.
The double porcelain vase was developed in Longquan kilns 400 to 350 years before Qianlong, in the transition between Yuan and Ming dynasties. The celadon exterior vase is pierced all around to provide visibility onto the inner vase. The potters of Longquan undoubtedly wished to produce prestige pieces for competing with the growing influence of Jingdezhen.
Tang Ying manages to reproduce this double vase which will be identified as a Longquan vase in the imperial archives. The earliest reference for a Qianlong Longquan vase is the presentation of a piece to the emperor by a eunuch for the use of the very prestigious hall of audiences and banquets in the palace. This event happened in the twelfth day of the eighth month of the seventh year of Qianlong, in 1742 CE.
Only one known piece is matching the archives description of this first referred vase. The vase 31.4 cm high overall is ball shaped, surmounted by a neck with two dragon shaped gilt handles. A collar is hanging below the rim. It is made in a sgraffiato incised yangcai except the reticulated part which is celadon. The inner vase is a blue and white in Xuande style.
This item was sold for £ 44 by Sotheby's in 1954. It has just been rediscovered in a European country house where it had never caught the attention of countless generations of wandering cats and dogs. It is estimated HK $ 70M for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on July 11, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In 1743 CE, Tang Ying announced in an official report the extremely low yield of the Longquan vases. The emperor agreed to stop this style while suggesting to make a second copy of some available vases for creating pairs. The vase for the audience hall, which had the most complex shape, was certainly the very first, made before Tang Ying could estimate the technical difficulties. Its pair was probably not formed.
Superintendent Tang Ying was commissioning to the Jingdezhen workshops the most sensational pieces of porcelain capable of being approved by the emperor himself. One of his most remarkable breakthroughs was the development of yangcai enamels, a less expensive replacement for the falangcai which could only be made in a small workshop of the Beijing palace.
The double porcelain vase was developed in Longquan kilns 400 to 350 years before Qianlong, in the transition between Yuan and Ming dynasties. The celadon exterior vase is pierced all around to provide visibility onto the inner vase. The potters of Longquan undoubtedly wished to produce prestige pieces for competing with the growing influence of Jingdezhen.
Tang Ying manages to reproduce this double vase which will be identified as a Longquan vase in the imperial archives. The earliest reference for a Qianlong Longquan vase is the presentation of a piece to the emperor by a eunuch for the use of the very prestigious hall of audiences and banquets in the palace. This event happened in the twelfth day of the eighth month of the seventh year of Qianlong, in 1742 CE.
Only one known piece is matching the archives description of this first referred vase. The vase 31.4 cm high overall is ball shaped, surmounted by a neck with two dragon shaped gilt handles. A collar is hanging below the rim. It is made in a sgraffiato incised yangcai except the reticulated part which is celadon. The inner vase is a blue and white in Xuande style.
This item was sold for £ 44 by Sotheby's in 1954. It has just been rediscovered in a European country house where it had never caught the attention of countless generations of wandering cats and dogs. It is estimated HK $ 70M for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on July 11, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In 1743 CE, Tang Ying announced in an official report the extremely low yield of the Longquan vases. The emperor agreed to stop this style while suggesting to make a second copy of some available vases for creating pairs. The vase for the audience hall, which had the most complex shape, was certainly the very first, made before Tang Ying could estimate the technical difficulties. Its pair was probably not formed.
1743 Qianlong reticulated vase
2010 UNPAID at £ 43M plus a buyer's premium of £ 8.6M, at Bainbridges
1743 Technical Achievements from Jingdezhen
2018 SOLD for HK$ 150M including premium
In 1728 CE, Tang Ying is appointed by the Yongzheng emperor as the Superintendent of the Imperial porcelain produced at Jingdezhen. He spends several years observing the best practices of the potters. One of his first major successes is the development of the yangcai, offering a less expensive substitute to the Imperial City's falangcai that remains the high end.
These first years are experimental, with pieces of all shapes. Qianlong who succeeds Yongzheng in 1735 CE is just as demanding as his father. To please him, they must constantly bring novelties that match his ambitious role as Son of Heaven, accumulating the styles of all dynasties and integrating the new European trends.
In the early 1740s Tang Ying's expertise in Jingdezhen has no limits. The most complicated pieces are technological syntheses that require a long succession of firings at the risk of a low yield.
In a memorandum submitted to Qianlong in 1743 CE, Tang Ying apologizes for the small amount of units produced in the new style of double vase, only nine. The inner part is enclosed in the outer vase with a distance of about 3 to 4 cm between their walls. The outer vase is pierced by large holes of various elegant shapes that allow the peeping to the inner part. The exterior is decorated with the same profusion as more classical imperial pieces.
Qianlong does not request the impossible. He authorizes to complete in pairs those models that had been produced in single pieces before suspending this technique sine die.
A reticulated vase with pairs of fishes surfaced in Middlesex in 2010. 40 cm high, it mixes archaic, Song, Buddhist and rocaille inspirations, juxtaposing the classic celadon and the modern yangcai in a yellow ground with sgraffiato. The inner wall is a blue and white in Ming style. After 30 minutes of bidding, Bainbridges's hammer fell at £ 43M, £ 51.6M including the premium, but the payment failed and the sale was canceled.
In 2010 nobody had considered the catalog of the exhibition in New York in 1905 of a Japanese collection where its pairing piece had been photographed and described. This vase has just resurfaced and is estimated HK $ 50M for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 3, lot 3001. It differs from the Middlesex specimen by a rarer variant of the reign mark and so may be the master item produced for that pair.
These first years are experimental, with pieces of all shapes. Qianlong who succeeds Yongzheng in 1735 CE is just as demanding as his father. To please him, they must constantly bring novelties that match his ambitious role as Son of Heaven, accumulating the styles of all dynasties and integrating the new European trends.
In the early 1740s Tang Ying's expertise in Jingdezhen has no limits. The most complicated pieces are technological syntheses that require a long succession of firings at the risk of a low yield.
In a memorandum submitted to Qianlong in 1743 CE, Tang Ying apologizes for the small amount of units produced in the new style of double vase, only nine. The inner part is enclosed in the outer vase with a distance of about 3 to 4 cm between their walls. The outer vase is pierced by large holes of various elegant shapes that allow the peeping to the inner part. The exterior is decorated with the same profusion as more classical imperial pieces.
Qianlong does not request the impossible. He authorizes to complete in pairs those models that had been produced in single pieces before suspending this technique sine die.
A reticulated vase with pairs of fishes surfaced in Middlesex in 2010. 40 cm high, it mixes archaic, Song, Buddhist and rocaille inspirations, juxtaposing the classic celadon and the modern yangcai in a yellow ground with sgraffiato. The inner wall is a blue and white in Ming style. After 30 minutes of bidding, Bainbridges's hammer fell at £ 43M, £ 51.6M including the premium, but the payment failed and the sale was canceled.
In 2010 nobody had considered the catalog of the exhibition in New York in 1905 of a Japanese collection where its pairing piece had been photographed and described. This vase has just resurfaced and is estimated HK $ 50M for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 3, lot 3001. It differs from the Middlesex specimen by a rarer variant of the reign mark and so may be the master item produced for that pair.
The pair to the famous ‘Bainbridge vase’ – sensationally knocked down at £43m in 2010 but later sold for half of that sum after the buyer failed to pay – has to come to @Sothebys:https://t.co/RmkAXYiHnM pic.twitter.com/i8m8Q0Vjcp
— AntiquesTradeGazette (@ATG_Editorial) August 14, 2018
< 1745 The Poem of the Ten Stones
2010 SOLD for HK$ 90M including premium by Sotheby's (probably unpaid)
2012 SOLD for HK$ 70 M including premium
In China, the best literary and artistic works transcend time. The emperors themselves have contributed over the centuries to transmit and highlight the most outstanding of them.
A scroll of Qianlong period, for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 9, finds its cultural roots in the deepest ages.
The Shaanxi province is considered as one of the cradles of Chinese culture. About 2500 years ago, Qin scribes have engraved in granite short poems on the themes of fishing, hunting and war.
The discovery during the Tang dynasty, 1200 years ago, of a group of ten drum-shaped carved poem-sculptures created an intense cultural emotion, an evidence of the importance that the Chinese already granted to their past. Even more amazing: the Chinese science was already the subject of publications. The Confucian philosopher Han Yu is one of those who wrote texts in tribute to the ten stones, the Shigu ge.
Now jump nine centuries. Zhang Zhao is a poor minister but a recognized scholar and Qianlong, rather than having him executed after a failed mission, sends him back to his beloved studies. This is probably after this incident that he copied the Shigu ge of Han Yu.
Zhang died suddenly during the tenth year of the reign of Qianlong. The Emperor continued to admire above all the cursive calligraphy of Zhang.
During the gengxu year, the 55th of his reign, 1790 of our calendar, Qianlong ordered to preserve the text of the ten stones threatened by abrasion and renewed his interest in the Shigu ge of Zhang. He added a preface and inked the mark of 33 imperial seals attesting to all the reasons of his admiration for this scroll.
The Shigu ge is 55 cm high and 7.90 m long, extended by the frontispiece of the emperor, 46 x 103 cm. This scroll is estimated HK $ 50M, lot 3007.
LATER COMMENT
This piece had been previously sold in the same auction room on October 7, 2010 for HK$ 90M including premium from a lower estimate of HK$ 15M, lot 2104. The provenance in the 2012 catalogue does not refer to the 2010 sale. I guess that it had been unpaid in 2010.
A scroll of Qianlong period, for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 9, finds its cultural roots in the deepest ages.
The Shaanxi province is considered as one of the cradles of Chinese culture. About 2500 years ago, Qin scribes have engraved in granite short poems on the themes of fishing, hunting and war.
The discovery during the Tang dynasty, 1200 years ago, of a group of ten drum-shaped carved poem-sculptures created an intense cultural emotion, an evidence of the importance that the Chinese already granted to their past. Even more amazing: the Chinese science was already the subject of publications. The Confucian philosopher Han Yu is one of those who wrote texts in tribute to the ten stones, the Shigu ge.
Now jump nine centuries. Zhang Zhao is a poor minister but a recognized scholar and Qianlong, rather than having him executed after a failed mission, sends him back to his beloved studies. This is probably after this incident that he copied the Shigu ge of Han Yu.
Zhang died suddenly during the tenth year of the reign of Qianlong. The Emperor continued to admire above all the cursive calligraphy of Zhang.
During the gengxu year, the 55th of his reign, 1790 of our calendar, Qianlong ordered to preserve the text of the ten stones threatened by abrasion and renewed his interest in the Shigu ge of Zhang. He added a preface and inked the mark of 33 imperial seals attesting to all the reasons of his admiration for this scroll.
The Shigu ge is 55 cm high and 7.90 m long, extended by the frontispiece of the emperor, 46 x 103 cm. This scroll is estimated HK $ 50M, lot 3007.
LATER COMMENT
This piece had been previously sold in the same auction room on October 7, 2010 for HK$ 90M including premium from a lower estimate of HK$ 15M, lot 2104. The provenance in the 2012 catalogue does not refer to the 2010 sale. I guess that it had been unpaid in 2010.
1745 Desk-and-Bookcase by Christopher Townsend
1999 SOLD for $ 8.3M including premium by Sotheby's
narrated in 2020
Job and Christopher Townsend, members of the Quaker community of Newport RI, establish themselves as carpenters in 1723 and are also joiners. At that time Newport needs to manage its economic and religious independence from Boston. The two brothers become cabinetmakers.
They work together. The earliest reference to their new activity is a letter from Christopher in 1733 describing a desk-and-bookcase that Job had just sold. For nearly a century, this family, closely linked to the Goddard, Casey and Spencer families, will produce top quality mahogany furniture.
Attribution is difficult. Only one known piece, which is also a desk-and-bookcase, bears the label of Job Townsend. Christopher Townsend's previously unknown signature was discovered in 1998 on another desk-and-bookcase that was in France for nearly two centuries. Its traceability is perfect : it had been delivered to a minister in Cambridge MA and exported circa 1800 by his grandson in charge of a permanent diplomatic mission in France.
This piece of furniture in superb condition is typical of the best craftsmanship of American cabinetmakers of the 1740s. It was mounted in marked silver by a very young goldsmith named Samuel Casey who established his business in 1745 in Exeter RI after an apprenticeship in Boston. This is the only known American piece of furniture with solid silver handles. It was sold for $ 8.3M including premium by Sotheby's on January 16, 1999.
They work together. The earliest reference to their new activity is a letter from Christopher in 1733 describing a desk-and-bookcase that Job had just sold. For nearly a century, this family, closely linked to the Goddard, Casey and Spencer families, will produce top quality mahogany furniture.
Attribution is difficult. Only one known piece, which is also a desk-and-bookcase, bears the label of Job Townsend. Christopher Townsend's previously unknown signature was discovered in 1998 on another desk-and-bookcase that was in France for nearly two centuries. Its traceability is perfect : it had been delivered to a minister in Cambridge MA and exported circa 1800 by his grandson in charge of a permanent diplomatic mission in France.
This piece of furniture in superb condition is typical of the best craftsmanship of American cabinetmakers of the 1740s. It was mounted in marked silver by a very young goldsmith named Samuel Casey who established his business in 1745 in Exeter RI after an apprenticeship in Boston. This is the only known American piece of furniture with solid silver handles. It was sold for $ 8.3M including premium by Sotheby's on January 16, 1999.
1745-1750 Celebration of the Bucentaur by Canaletto
1993 SOLD for FF 66M (worth € 10M) before fees by Tajan
Now in the collection of the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum in Madrid.
1747 The Grand Parade of Qianlong
2011 SOLD 22 M€ including premium
Qianlong was only 24 when he became emperor of China. For establishing his authority, he has prepared a huge military parade in the best tradition of the Qing Dynasty. It will be held early in the fourth year of his reign.
The objective is achieved: the power of the young emperor is not disputed. To the delight of current enthusiasts and historians, Qianlong was to become the most important art collector and patron of all time.
At the tenth year of his reign, Qianlong wants to fix the memory of this great revue. He orders the artist Jin Kun to realize four huge scrolls on silk with the help of the official court painters. Fifteen months later (1747 in our calendar), the four works are ready to be assembled in their presentation boxes.
These paintings show the festivities in a chronological order. The second, 68 x 1757 cm, is kept at the Palace Museum in Beijing. The third, 68 cm x 1550, was sold HK $ 68M including premium by Sotheby's on October 8, 2008. The catalog of that sale indicated that the other two were lost.
A miracle happened. No. I do not believe in miracles.
The market for ancient Chinese art has been so boosted for two years (indeed from after the scandal of the bronzes of the Saint-Laurent - Bergé collection) that the treasures come out of the attics: the fourth scroll is retrieved!
With the same height as the others, it is the longest: the incredible multitude of troops occupies 18 m of image. A primer including testimonials and seals increases this length to 24 m, on a diameter of 12 cm when rolled.
This treasure is estimated € 2M, for sale by Marc Labarbe in Toulouse on March 26.
POST SALE COMMENT
The scroll was sold € 17.8 million before fees, 22 million including premium.
The significant difference in price with the auction of 2008 is mainly due to the cultural awakening of China for the most outstanding treasures of its history.
This new price is perfectly understandable and deserved.
The objective is achieved: the power of the young emperor is not disputed. To the delight of current enthusiasts and historians, Qianlong was to become the most important art collector and patron of all time.
At the tenth year of his reign, Qianlong wants to fix the memory of this great revue. He orders the artist Jin Kun to realize four huge scrolls on silk with the help of the official court painters. Fifteen months later (1747 in our calendar), the four works are ready to be assembled in their presentation boxes.
These paintings show the festivities in a chronological order. The second, 68 x 1757 cm, is kept at the Palace Museum in Beijing. The third, 68 cm x 1550, was sold HK $ 68M including premium by Sotheby's on October 8, 2008. The catalog of that sale indicated that the other two were lost.
A miracle happened. No. I do not believe in miracles.
The market for ancient Chinese art has been so boosted for two years (indeed from after the scandal of the bronzes of the Saint-Laurent - Bergé collection) that the treasures come out of the attics: the fourth scroll is retrieved!
With the same height as the others, it is the longest: the incredible multitude of troops occupies 18 m of image. A primer including testimonials and seals increases this length to 24 m, on a diameter of 12 cm when rolled.
This treasure is estimated € 2M, for sale by Marc Labarbe in Toulouse on March 26.
POST SALE COMMENT
The scroll was sold € 17.8 million before fees, 22 million including premium.
The significant difference in price with the auction of 2008 is mainly due to the cultural awakening of China for the most outstanding treasures of its history.
This new price is perfectly understandable and deserved.
1747 Propaganda for Qianlong
2008 SOLD 68 MHK$ including premium
Sales for the first half of this year confirmed that the two major groups can submit top masterpieces at auction in Hong Kong. Just now, Sotheby's published in a press release (also available in Chinese) the highlights of its October sales.
The Chinese graphic arts are particularly well represented, and we will present later in this group and in the group Current Art other lots to come into these sales. Attention, however, that the dates announced too early may be subject to change.
Let me start with you about a remarkable Qianlong scroll, that not only seems to be the most unusual lot of this group, but also is presented with the highest estimate (beyond $ 80 MHK). It will be sold on October 8.
First, it allows me to lean to my small way of not using the Western calendar for the countries or the dates on which it was not in force. Our scroll was created in the fourth year of the reign of Qianlong, 269 years ago.
It is a Dayue Tu, from a series of four, showing on 68 cm high and 15.5 meters long the Emperor reviewing his troops. This work was intended to assess the power of the Emperor. The detail published in the press release shows Qianlong on a white horse, followed by two of his officers and 26 riders in an arc, all of this being of course very finely drawn and colorful.
This is the third in the series. Sotheby's taught us that the second is in the Palace Museum in Beijing, and that the other two are no more extant.
POST SALE COMMENT
Before the sale, the scroll was considered a treasure by several commentators close to the Asian market.
It has not reached the price that Sotheby's expected, but the result must still be considered very good: 68 MHK $ including fees.
The Chinese graphic arts are particularly well represented, and we will present later in this group and in the group Current Art other lots to come into these sales. Attention, however, that the dates announced too early may be subject to change.
Let me start with you about a remarkable Qianlong scroll, that not only seems to be the most unusual lot of this group, but also is presented with the highest estimate (beyond $ 80 MHK). It will be sold on October 8.
First, it allows me to lean to my small way of not using the Western calendar for the countries or the dates on which it was not in force. Our scroll was created in the fourth year of the reign of Qianlong, 269 years ago.
It is a Dayue Tu, from a series of four, showing on 68 cm high and 15.5 meters long the Emperor reviewing his troops. This work was intended to assess the power of the Emperor. The detail published in the press release shows Qianlong on a white horse, followed by two of his officers and 26 riders in an arc, all of this being of course very finely drawn and colorful.
This is the third in the series. Sotheby's taught us that the second is in the Palace Museum in Beijing, and that the other two are no more extant.
POST SALE COMMENT
Before the sale, the scroll was considered a treasure by several commentators close to the Asian market.
It has not reached the price that Sotheby's expected, but the result must still be considered very good: 68 MHK $ including fees.
1749 The Old Horse Guards by Canaletto
1992 SOLD for £ 10M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2015 before the auction of another view in 2015 by Sotheby's (see below)
Canaletto sold his views of Venice to British tourists who were very active in the 1730s. When the Austrian Succession War reduced the travel opportunities of his patrons, he moved his studio to London, in 1746.
Being a foreigner in this big city in perpetual transformation, he did not try to express the atmosphere of remote districts and focused on a limited number of topics including the banks of the Thames and the great plaza of St. James's Park in Westminster.
The view of the Horse Guards across St. James's is one of his masterpieces by its monumental size, 117 x 236 cm. This oil on canvas was sold for £ 10M including premium by Christie's on April 15, 1992. It is currently on long-term loan to the Tate Gallery by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Canaletto displays the old red brick building of the Horse Guards. Two sketches that have been preserved assess that the artist had been appealed by the announcement of the imminent destruction of the building in 1749. The oil on canvas was probably painted in May or June 1749 and was certainly the view of St. James's Park advertised by the artist in July 1749 as a demonstrator of his art for his visitors.
A smaller painting, 47 x 77 cm, has also be made in the same period. It is less panoramic and better focused on the Old Horse Guards and on the spring green of the Park. It had been sold for £ 1.1M including premium by Christie's on July 4, 1997, lot 121. and passed at Sotheby's on January 29, 2015, lot 98.
Really passionate about this fate of a monument, Canaletto observed again this scenery three years later with the scaffolding of the new building. This oil on panel 59 x 110 cm passed in 2012 at Dorotheum on October 17, 2012.
Being a foreigner in this big city in perpetual transformation, he did not try to express the atmosphere of remote districts and focused on a limited number of topics including the banks of the Thames and the great plaza of St. James's Park in Westminster.
The view of the Horse Guards across St. James's is one of his masterpieces by its monumental size, 117 x 236 cm. This oil on canvas was sold for £ 10M including premium by Christie's on April 15, 1992. It is currently on long-term loan to the Tate Gallery by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Canaletto displays the old red brick building of the Horse Guards. Two sketches that have been preserved assess that the artist had been appealed by the announcement of the imminent destruction of the building in 1749. The oil on canvas was probably painted in May or June 1749 and was certainly the view of St. James's Park advertised by the artist in July 1749 as a demonstrator of his art for his visitors.
A smaller painting, 47 x 77 cm, has also be made in the same period. It is less panoramic and better focused on the Old Horse Guards and on the spring green of the Park. It had been sold for £ 1.1M including premium by Christie's on July 4, 1997, lot 121. and passed at Sotheby's on January 29, 2015, lot 98.
Really passionate about this fate of a monument, Canaletto observed again this scenery three years later with the scaffolding of the new building. This oil on panel 59 x 110 cm passed in 2012 at Dorotheum on October 17, 2012.
