QING DYNASTY, 17TH TO 18TH CENTURY
HEIGHT: 57.5CM
The pear-shaped body is exuberantly inlaid in gold and silver with horizontal
friezes of stylised taotie masks divided by bands of cicada lappets, between a
classic scroll around the rim and a ruyi band at the foot. The base is set with a
plate engraved with an apocryphal inscription reading Da Ming Xuande wunian
zhongchun Gongbu guanchen Wu Baozuo zao 大明宣德五年仲春工部官臣吳
邦佐造 (“Made by the Minister of the Ministry of Works Wu Bangzuo during the
second month of the fifth year of Xuande in the Ming dynasty”)
This impressive vase represents a masterful reinvention of archaism adapted in
a new canon of taste by juxtaposing nearly all designs classic to the decorative
repertoire of archaic bronzes with contemporary motifs. The intricacy and
extravagance of the inlays bear testimony to the remarkable innovation in
metalwork technology and design in the Qing period. Compare a vase from the
collection of Robert E. Kresko, illustrated in Philip K. Hu, Later Chinese Bronzes:
The Saint Louis Art Museum and Robert E. Kresko Collection , St. Louis, 2008, cat.
no. 31.
PROVENANCE
A European Private Collection
| 清十七至十八世紀 | 銅錯金銀饕餮紋瓶 |
| 「大明宣德五年仲春工部官臣吳邦佐造」印款 |
