| 中文版 English

具体要求

其它要求

-
关闭
A superb and extremely rare imperial turquoise-inlaid gold filigree twin box and cover, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period
美国 北京时间
09月18日 晚上9点 开拍 / 09月16日 下午3点 截止委托
拍品描述 翻译
Lot Details Description 22k gold (2) Width 4? in., 10.8 cm; Weight 195.6 g Condition report Provenance Commissioned by Bao Tai (active ca. 1780) for the Qianlong Emperor (1711-1799) in 1783. Qing Court Collection. Parish-Watson & Company, Inc., Chicago, 1934. American Private Collection, acquired by 1972, and thence by descent. Exhibited The Gold Treasure of the Emperor Chien Lung of China, Parish-Watson & Company, Inc., New York, 1934, cat. no. 9. Catalogue note The year was 1783. The Qianlong Emperor had been ruling China for almost fifty years with scholarly passion and imperial ambition. Pushing China's borders far into the west and uniting a diverse population under his reign, Qianlong was one of the last great emperors of China; a figure worthy of fear and admiration in equal measure. How, then, to pay homage to such a figure? What gifts could one bestow that would be befitting of the Son of Heaven? What do you get the man who has everything???? This was the question faced by minister Bao Tai (active ca. 1780). After three years in Tibet as the assistant minister, meeting with the Dalai and Panchen Lamas, fending off the risk of war and building China's alliances to the south, Bao Tai left his post for newer pastures guarding the distant northern borders of Heilongjiang. Before he left, however, it was time for a gift as a mark of tribute to his sovereign and employer. The result: a remarkable set of solid gold scholar's objects, adorned with gold filigree and inlaid with elaborate turquoise designs. This assemblage of almost 6 kilograms of pure gold was truly an imperial treasure, the likes of which are almost unparalleled in the history of craftsmanship. Over a century and a half later, the sinologist Berthold Laufer (1874-1934) noted of the group: 'This set, both from a technical and artistic viewpoint, is absolutely unique in the world and the most perfect achievement of the goldsmith's craft that has ever been attained anywhere by human hands. The gold objects found in Tutankhamen's tomb are dwarfed and eclipsed by this production of a master mind, which baffles description. It is useless to attempt to describe the processes of its workmanship, which is so microscopically fine and so fairy-like delicate that its proper appreciation is only possible when studied under a powerful magnifying lens. We can but admire the enchanting color harmony of the gold with the charming blues of turquois (sic.) and lapis lazuli, the simplicity and purity of style, and the exquisite choice of decorative elements.' In the present lot, we are delighted to present one of these treasures: a 'twin box' adorned with elaborate gold openwork and splashes of turquoise prunus blossoms. The charming shape of the vessel, which celebrates the purity of the circle’s simple form and the technical mastery in distorting it, was a favorite of the Qianlong Emperor and is a common feature of pieces in the imperial collection, from double-vases hewn from jade to similar twin boxes worked in lacquer. Compare, for example, a lacquer 'twin box' of square section from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Lacquer Wares of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 2006, no. 120.? The present vessel, however, is far from commonplace. Gold vessels like this piece were generally restricted for use only by the Emperor and his closest entourage. Perhaps serving as a rebus for the emperor himself (huang being a homophonous term for both 'emperor' and 'gold'), gold vessels embody the very essence of imperial power and boast of the great might of an empire able to control distant gold mines and train master craftsmen. Even the use of turquoise inlay was not coincidental. A mineral long treasured in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the turquoise of this vessel likely came from the Nishapur mines in modern-day Iran which had provided Tibetan sculptors with the highest quality turquoise for centuries. Combining the imperial splendor of gold with the luminosity and Tibetan associations of turquoise, Bao Tai's box eloquently praises the Qianlong Emperor's strong ties to his Tibetan subjects and his Buddhist faith. Qianlong himself had been known to combine these two materials as a symbol of his personal piety and ties to Tibetan Buddhism. Compare, for example, a solid gold stupa inlaid with hardstones, including turquoise, crafted on Qianlong's orders to store the remains of his mother's hair, illustrated and discussed in Theresa Tse Bartholomew, 'A Gold Stupa for the Empress Dowager's Hair,' China's Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of the Emperor Qianlong, The Field Museum, Chicago, 2004, pp 152-3. This masterpiece was received by the Qing court in the twelfth month of Qianlong's forty-eighth year on the throne (1783) and is recorded with the other pieces given by Bao Tai in the archives of the box-making department (Xiabiaozuo) of the Imperial Workshop (Zaobanchu) alongside an order for bespoke leather-bound boxes for each piece completed the following year (Fig. 1). This group was then passed from Qianlong to his successors. Taken by Empress Dowager Cixi and her entourage to Xi'an fu in 1900 – a testament to its treasured status – this was one of the rare pieces to avoid the fires and chaos of war. Only when the young Emperor Puyi turned to the collection as collateral for a loan on which he later foreclosed, did these treasures finally enter the public domain and were exhibited for the first time as a group by Parish-Watson & Company Ltd. in Chicago at the 'Century of Progress' International Exposition of 1933-1934 (Fig. 2). Following the success of the Chicago exhibition, the group was scattered and joined important collections around the world.? Of the exhibited group of eighteen, the current whereabouts of only four other pieces is now known: a ruyi scepter inlaid with the eight Buddhist elements in the Freer Collection at the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington (accession no. 0F1937.45) (Fig. 3); a filigree dish (accession no. 2013.463.A,.B) and bottle vase (accession no. 2013.462.A,.B) (Fig. 4), each with a matching stand, from the Thompson Collection, now in the collection of Museum of Fine Arts Houston, illustrated in Beatrice Chan, 'The Charles Quitter Thompson Bequest: An Enduring Veneration of Qing Dynasty Imperial Ceramics,' Arts of Asia, vol. 46, cat. no. 6, November-December 2016, pp 69-70; and a censer, of globular form inlaid with turquoise and lapis lazuli, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 7th October 2010, lot 2614 (Fig. 5). As Laufer rightly points out, these pieces are exceptional in terms of the quality of their construction and design. A few related gold filigree boxes from the period are known. Compare a gold box of quatrefoil design with a turquoise design of cranes and trees formerly in the British Royal Collection, now in the collection of the Museum Rietberg, Zurich, illustrated in Die Sammlung Pierre Uldry: Chinesisches Gold und Silber, Zurich, 1994, no. 311 (together with a related wrist-support, ibid., no. 312.); a cinquefoil filigree box sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 21st May 1987, lot 612; and two sets of filigree boxes of Daoist subject matter with inlaid gemstones: a set of five from the collection of Mr and Mrs Augustus L. Searle, bequeathed to the Minneapolis Institute of Art (accession nos 41.57.2; 41.57.3A,B; 41.57.1A,B; 43.26.1A,B; 43.26.2A,B); and a pair from the collection of the Countess Mona von Bismarck, sold at Christie's London, 8th July 2021, lot 1.

本场其它拍品

  • 竞价阶梯
  • 快递物流
  • 拍卖规则
  • 支付方式
竞价区间 加价幅度
0
10
100
50
500
100
1,000
200
2,000
250
5,000
500
10,000
1,000
20,000
2,000
50,000
5,000
100,000
10,000
+

价格信息

拍品估价:60,000 - 80,000 美元 起拍价格:60,000 美元  买家佣金:
落槌价 佣金比率
0 - 1,000,000 26.00% + VAT
1,000,000 - 4,500,000 21.00% + VAT
4,500,000 - 以上 13.90% + VAT
服务费:平台服务费为成交总金额(含佣金)的3%,最低200元

拍卖公司

Sotheby's
地址: 1334 York Avenue
电话: +1 212 606 7000
邮编: 10021
向卖家提问

小贴士

1. 一般拍卖公司接受的付款方式有以下几种:
现金、信用卡、转账汇款、银行支票、个人支票以及PayPal支付。
使用PayPal支付时,请留意需要在账单金额的基础上额外加上 4% 的手续费。
2. 信用卡的种类有以下几种:
3. 转账汇款时请注意银行手续费
海外拍企会要求足额到账,所以请您在汇款时,选择足额到账,或在汇款金额的基础上加上汇款手续费(如25美金)。
4. 国际转账汇款时, 您需要知道海外拍卖行以下汇款信息:
* 收款人名称
* 收款人地址
* 收款人银行账号
* 收款银行国际编码(8位字母数字组合,必填项, 如: BFKKAT2K)
* 收款银行清算码(9位数字组合,选填项)
* 收款银行名称
* 收款银行地址
5. 运输相关事项
有的海外拍卖行会替您安排和协调运输, 您只需要支付相关的运费及保险费(如您需要)即可;有的海外拍卖行会推荐几家长期合作的运输公司, 这些运输公司有着良好的信誉和高质量的工作效率,您大可放心。您只需要提供您的收货地址, 竞得拍品账单。 运输公司会根据您提供的信息给您报价, 您可以在其中选择最优的报价者来承担运输任务。然后就是付款了, 信用卡是最常用的支付手段, 当然还有其他像PayPal,转账等。
6. 进口通关可能出现的关税
国际运送的包裹在进口清关过程中如需支付关税,需由包裹接受人(即买家)自行承担。 征收标准:具体征收标准和额度以海关通知和解释为准。
7. 禁拍拍品
海外拍卖会可能会出现中国法律禁止交易的物品,如枪支、管制刀具、象牙、犀角等;中国买家不得通过本平台参与上述物品的拍卖活动;任何情形下,买家均须对自己的竞拍行为独立承担责任。
服务热线:400-608-1178
查看全部小贴士