LOT 17
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A rare and important imperially inscribed 'Cizhou' ingot pillow, Song dynasty, Inscription dated to the wuzi year of the Qianlong period (in accordance with 1768)
作品估价：GBP 100,000 - 200,000
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图录号：
17
拍品名称：
A rare and important imperially inscribed 'Cizhou' ingot pillow, Song dynasty, Inscription dated to the wuzi year of the Qianlong period (in accordance with 1768)
拍品描述：
carved with a seventy-eight-character Imperial inscription with two seals readingQianlong yu shang('Imperially admired by the Qianlong Emperor') andjixia yiqing('a few moments of leisure‘）
Width 23 cm, 8 in.
出处
Collection of Count Maurice de Bosdari (ca. 1891-1971), and thence by descent.
图录说明
Among ceramics, this of Dingzhou is like a spokeless wheel,
Its colouration does not depend on spreading coloured pigments.
This fine and fragrant pillow, its quality rustic and pure;
Powdered clamshells have the glaze spreading over smoothly.
White lead and flames have left the piece pure and rich with ripples;
So pure in appearance, ancient like a Daoist sage.
Communing with the caves, rising sleeping in the clouds,
Truly you can forget your worries, you can refresh your mind.
The perfect man no longer dreams, all is quite in order,
But the lesser man of Handan will mutter on and on.
Composed by the Emperor, midsummer of thewuziyear(1768)
This poem, inscribed by imperial command, stands as a testament to the critical eye, poetic vision and connoisseurial spirit of the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735-1795). The Qianlong Emperor is well known both for his substantial art collection, which included an unsurpassed assembly of classic Song ceramics, and for his vast legacy of poems. Raised in the imperial palaces surrounded by the astonishing collections of his father and grandfather, the Qianlong Emperor soon developed a personal taste for the archaic, for China’s history and for beautiful things. Composing poetry in his youth, as an Emperor from the throne, and even after his abdication, over his lifetime Qianlong is said to have written over forty-thousand poems; preserved in imperial compendia and still studied and admired to this day.
While only a relatively small proportion of his overalloeuvre, the Emperor’s writing in praise of ceramics remain among the most notable of his works – particularly those inscribed on Song dynasty antiques. Of the hundred and ninety recorded pieces on ceramics, more than a hundred and fifty of these deal directly with Song wares; see Feng Xianming,Annotated Collection of Historical Documents on Ancient Chinese Ceramics, Taipei, 2000, p. 271ff.
The present poem appears inscribed on a fine cream-glazed pillow of ingot shape, produced around the twelfth or thirteenth century in northern China around modern-day Hebei province. Interestingly, while the Emperor describes the pillow as an example of celebrated Ding ware, modern archaeological and art-historical evidence would suggest the present piece was probably produced at one of the more vernacular ‘Cizhou’ kiln sites. Compare a partially glazed example of this form excavated from the fifth stratum of the Guantai kiln complex inThe Cizhou Kiln Site at Guantai, Beijing, 1997, pl. LXXII:2 and a sherd of similar form and tone with traces of an incised decoration, excavated from the Song dynasty Baishe kiln site in Jiangxi province, inJiangxi Nanfeng baishe yao, Beijing, 2008, col. pl. 47. Indeed, while the Qianlong Emperor was undoubtedly the leading connoisseur of his day, many surviving Song pieces with Qianlong inscriptions feature poems misattributing them to other (usually more esteemed) kiln sites. Compare a Jun-glazed pillow preserved in the National Palace Museum (accession no.gu ci017431), inscribed with a poem attributing it to the semi-mythical ‘Chai’ kilns; a Qingbai-glazed ingot pillow (accession no.gu ci017795), said to be from the famous ‘Ge’ kilns; and the famous Ru bowl in the Percival David Collection, now in the British Museum, London (accession no.PDF.3), misattributed to the Jun kilns.
While initially unassuming on first glance, the present pillow exemplifies the message of Qianlong’s poem. Subtly rippling with an understated cream glaze, the pillow appears as a blank canvas for the Emperor’s musings; a pure antique whispering of the ancient past while he lay upon it. As the curators of the National Museum of Asian Art point out in their analysis of the poem and the termchui lun(‘spokeless wheel’), the plainness of the present pillow is taken by the Qianlong Emperor as a symbol of its imperial elegance – like that of an ancient chariot;vide infra,F1942.21, note 1 – while this plainness also presents itself as a metaphor for moral virtue.
Over his sixty-year reign, the Qianlong Emperor would return to his favourite poems again and again, and commissioned them to be recarved on newly acquired pieces in his collection. Indeed, two other extant pillows bear the same inscription as the present piece in closely related hands of clerical script (lishu): the first, an oval pillow with peony decoration preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated inThe Life of Emperor Qian Long, Macau Museum of Art, Macau, 2002, cat. no. 51; and the second, purchased by the Freer Gallery of Art (National Museum of Asian Art), Washington, from T. H. Ching in 1942 (accession no.F1942.21), included in Chuimei Ho and Bennet Bronson,Splendors of China's Forbidden City. The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong, The Field Museum, Chicago, 2004, cat. no. 293. This second pillow is particularly comparable with the present in its size, ingot form and inscription, the clerical script of which shares almost every idiosyncrasy with the present and was almost definitely inspired by the same hand. Notably, while both of these pillows share the same inscription as the present, neither quite fits the poem’s description of a totally plain and pure piece of so-called ‘Ding’ ware. With no mention of carved peonies or ruddy stains in the poem (other than perhaps the reference tolun, ‘ripples’), it seems highly probable that these other examples were only inscribed with the present poemafterits initial composition inspired by the present piece in all its purity.
Although somewhat unclear in their phrasing, contemporaneous Records from the Imperial Workshops (Qinggong neiwufu zaobanchu dangan), give invaluable clues into the provenance of the present pillow. On 11th November 1768 – the same year the present poem was composed – records from the tailoring workshop in Beijing (Picaizuo) note:
“On the 3rd day[of the 10th lunar month], Supervisor Side, Foreman Wude, and Clerk Funiya Han reported that Eunuch Hu Shijie delivered one ‘Ding’ ceramic cooling pillow (and stand) and a piece of Song dynasty brocade.
“An order was given to add a white damask lining to the Song brocade and make it into a [matching] cushion. By Imperial Command.”
While not explicitly recorded as having passed to the Jade workshops orMaoqindian(Hall of Merit and Diligence) for inscription, the chronology of this piece arriving in the imperial halls just as the Qianlong Emperor turned his brush to the subject of pillows is unlikely to be coincidental. Compare another more explicit reference to a “‘Ding’ ceramic cooling pillow” passed to the stone carvers of theRuyiguan(Office of Wish Fulfillment) in fifth month of Qianlong’s fifty-third year (1788), “to be inscribed with a poem.”
Of the handful of other comparable inscribed pillows that still survive, almost all remain in the collections of the Palace Museums in Beijing and Taipei, and only one other known example appears to have ever come to market. Compare a Ding pillow moulded in the shape of a recumbent child, preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (accession no.gu ci004923), inscribed with aPoem in Praise of the Sleeping Boy Pillow of the Ding kilns(Yong Dingyao chui hai’er zhen, 1773); and a Cizhou pillow in the Palace Museum, Beijing, inscribed with a poemIn Praise of an Ancient Ceramic Pillow(Yong gu ci zhen, 1788), apparently unpublished but discussed in Goa Xiaoran, “Qianlong yuzhi shi ciqi kaolun / Studies of Ceramics with Inscriptions of ‘Imperial Poems’ Composed by Emperor Qianlong”,Gugong Xuekan, 2011, p. 297.Also compare two more pillows bearing the Qianlong poemBai ci zhen(White Ceramic Pillow, 1746): the first, aruyi-shaped Ding pillow with sgraffiato design, inscribed on the base ingilt semi-cursive, still preserved in Taipei (accession no.gu ci017426); and the other, closely related to the present in ingot form, sold from the stock of Yamanaka and Company, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 1943, lot 715, and again more recently from the collection of Rosalind Ching Pastor (1920-2019) at Bonhams New York, 15th March 2021, lot 86.
For further examples of Qianlong poems inscribed on other Palace antiques, compare several pieces preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s 2012 ExhibitionObtaining Refined Enjoyment, The Qianlong Emperor's Taste in Ceramics, some of which are described in detail in Yu Peichin,“Consummate Images: Emperor Qianlong's Vision of the Ideal Kiln”,Orientations, vol. 42, no. 8 (November-December 2011), pp 80-88; a Ding bowl inscribed with a poem dated in accordance with 1776, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 7th April 2015, lot 3201; and an archaic pottery jar from the Percival David Collection, inscribed with a poem from 1769, sold in these rooms, 7th November 2012, lot 211.
Width 23 cm, 8 in.
出处
Collection of Count Maurice de Bosdari (ca. 1891-1971), and thence by descent.
图录说明
Among ceramics, this of Dingzhou is like a spokeless wheel,
Its colouration does not depend on spreading coloured pigments.
This fine and fragrant pillow, its quality rustic and pure;
Powdered clamshells have the glaze spreading over smoothly.
White lead and flames have left the piece pure and rich with ripples;
So pure in appearance, ancient like a Daoist sage.
Communing with the caves, rising sleeping in the clouds,
Truly you can forget your worries, you can refresh your mind.
The perfect man no longer dreams, all is quite in order,
But the lesser man of Handan will mutter on and on.
Composed by the Emperor, midsummer of thewuziyear(1768)
This poem, inscribed by imperial command, stands as a testament to the critical eye, poetic vision and connoisseurial spirit of the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735-1795). The Qianlong Emperor is well known both for his substantial art collection, which included an unsurpassed assembly of classic Song ceramics, and for his vast legacy of poems. Raised in the imperial palaces surrounded by the astonishing collections of his father and grandfather, the Qianlong Emperor soon developed a personal taste for the archaic, for China’s history and for beautiful things. Composing poetry in his youth, as an Emperor from the throne, and even after his abdication, over his lifetime Qianlong is said to have written over forty-thousand poems; preserved in imperial compendia and still studied and admired to this day.
While only a relatively small proportion of his overalloeuvre, the Emperor’s writing in praise of ceramics remain among the most notable of his works – particularly those inscribed on Song dynasty antiques. Of the hundred and ninety recorded pieces on ceramics, more than a hundred and fifty of these deal directly with Song wares; see Feng Xianming,Annotated Collection of Historical Documents on Ancient Chinese Ceramics, Taipei, 2000, p. 271ff.
The present poem appears inscribed on a fine cream-glazed pillow of ingot shape, produced around the twelfth or thirteenth century in northern China around modern-day Hebei province. Interestingly, while the Emperor describes the pillow as an example of celebrated Ding ware, modern archaeological and art-historical evidence would suggest the present piece was probably produced at one of the more vernacular ‘Cizhou’ kiln sites. Compare a partially glazed example of this form excavated from the fifth stratum of the Guantai kiln complex inThe Cizhou Kiln Site at Guantai, Beijing, 1997, pl. LXXII:2 and a sherd of similar form and tone with traces of an incised decoration, excavated from the Song dynasty Baishe kiln site in Jiangxi province, inJiangxi Nanfeng baishe yao, Beijing, 2008, col. pl. 47. Indeed, while the Qianlong Emperor was undoubtedly the leading connoisseur of his day, many surviving Song pieces with Qianlong inscriptions feature poems misattributing them to other (usually more esteemed) kiln sites. Compare a Jun-glazed pillow preserved in the National Palace Museum (accession no.gu ci017431), inscribed with a poem attributing it to the semi-mythical ‘Chai’ kilns; a Qingbai-glazed ingot pillow (accession no.gu ci017795), said to be from the famous ‘Ge’ kilns; and the famous Ru bowl in the Percival David Collection, now in the British Museum, London (accession no.PDF.3), misattributed to the Jun kilns.
While initially unassuming on first glance, the present pillow exemplifies the message of Qianlong’s poem. Subtly rippling with an understated cream glaze, the pillow appears as a blank canvas for the Emperor’s musings; a pure antique whispering of the ancient past while he lay upon it. As the curators of the National Museum of Asian Art point out in their analysis of the poem and the termchui lun(‘spokeless wheel’), the plainness of the present pillow is taken by the Qianlong Emperor as a symbol of its imperial elegance – like that of an ancient chariot;vide infra,F1942.21, note 1 – while this plainness also presents itself as a metaphor for moral virtue.
Over his sixty-year reign, the Qianlong Emperor would return to his favourite poems again and again, and commissioned them to be recarved on newly acquired pieces in his collection. Indeed, two other extant pillows bear the same inscription as the present piece in closely related hands of clerical script (lishu): the first, an oval pillow with peony decoration preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated inThe Life of Emperor Qian Long, Macau Museum of Art, Macau, 2002, cat. no. 51; and the second, purchased by the Freer Gallery of Art (National Museum of Asian Art), Washington, from T. H. Ching in 1942 (accession no.F1942.21), included in Chuimei Ho and Bennet Bronson,Splendors of China's Forbidden City. The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong, The Field Museum, Chicago, 2004, cat. no. 293. This second pillow is particularly comparable with the present in its size, ingot form and inscription, the clerical script of which shares almost every idiosyncrasy with the present and was almost definitely inspired by the same hand. Notably, while both of these pillows share the same inscription as the present, neither quite fits the poem’s description of a totally plain and pure piece of so-called ‘Ding’ ware. With no mention of carved peonies or ruddy stains in the poem (other than perhaps the reference tolun, ‘ripples’), it seems highly probable that these other examples were only inscribed with the present poemafterits initial composition inspired by the present piece in all its purity.
Although somewhat unclear in their phrasing, contemporaneous Records from the Imperial Workshops (Qinggong neiwufu zaobanchu dangan), give invaluable clues into the provenance of the present pillow. On 11th November 1768 – the same year the present poem was composed – records from the tailoring workshop in Beijing (Picaizuo) note:
“On the 3rd day[of the 10th lunar month], Supervisor Side, Foreman Wude, and Clerk Funiya Han reported that Eunuch Hu Shijie delivered one ‘Ding’ ceramic cooling pillow (and stand) and a piece of Song dynasty brocade.
“An order was given to add a white damask lining to the Song brocade and make it into a [matching] cushion. By Imperial Command.”
While not explicitly recorded as having passed to the Jade workshops orMaoqindian(Hall of Merit and Diligence) for inscription, the chronology of this piece arriving in the imperial halls just as the Qianlong Emperor turned his brush to the subject of pillows is unlikely to be coincidental. Compare another more explicit reference to a “‘Ding’ ceramic cooling pillow” passed to the stone carvers of theRuyiguan(Office of Wish Fulfillment) in fifth month of Qianlong’s fifty-third year (1788), “to be inscribed with a poem.”
Of the handful of other comparable inscribed pillows that still survive, almost all remain in the collections of the Palace Museums in Beijing and Taipei, and only one other known example appears to have ever come to market. Compare a Ding pillow moulded in the shape of a recumbent child, preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (accession no.gu ci004923), inscribed with aPoem in Praise of the Sleeping Boy Pillow of the Ding kilns(Yong Dingyao chui hai’er zhen, 1773); and a Cizhou pillow in the Palace Museum, Beijing, inscribed with a poemIn Praise of an Ancient Ceramic Pillow(Yong gu ci zhen, 1788), apparently unpublished but discussed in Goa Xiaoran, “Qianlong yuzhi shi ciqi kaolun / Studies of Ceramics with Inscriptions of ‘Imperial Poems’ Composed by Emperor Qianlong”,Gugong Xuekan, 2011, p. 297.Also compare two more pillows bearing the Qianlong poemBai ci zhen(White Ceramic Pillow, 1746): the first, aruyi-shaped Ding pillow with sgraffiato design, inscribed on the base ingilt semi-cursive, still preserved in Taipei (accession no.gu ci017426); and the other, closely related to the present in ingot form, sold from the stock of Yamanaka and Company, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 1943, lot 715, and again more recently from the collection of Rosalind Ching Pastor (1920-2019) at Bonhams New York, 15th March 2021, lot 86.
For further examples of Qianlong poems inscribed on other Palace antiques, compare several pieces preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s 2012 ExhibitionObtaining Refined Enjoyment, The Qianlong Emperor's Taste in Ceramics, some of which are described in detail in Yu Peichin,“Consummate Images: Emperor Qianlong's Vision of the Ideal Kiln”,Orientations, vol. 42, no. 8 (November-December 2011), pp 80-88; a Ding bowl inscribed with a poem dated in accordance with 1776, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 7th April 2015, lot 3201; and an archaic pottery jar from the Percival David Collection, inscribed with a poem from 1769, sold in these rooms, 7th November 2012, lot 211.