The Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-1795), the fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), was an emperor with diverse interests in literature, calligraphy, paintings and works of art. Though the Qianlong Emperor, as an astute observer, had seen countless extraordinary pieces, one type of Ming porcelain, Wudangzun, puzzled the Qianlong Emperor with its ‘bizarre’ form.
To better understand how the Qianlong Emperor was fascinated by the Wudangzun porcelain, we have invited Nicolas Chow, Chairman, Sotheby’s Asia, to tell us the story about it.
Nicolas Chow｜Chairman, Sotheby’s Asia
A blue and white Middle-Eastern inspired stand, Wudangzun. Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period｜Sotheby’s Hong Kong
A blue and white Middle-Eastern inspired stand, Wudangzun. Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period｜Sotheby’s Hong Kong
Wudangzun was potted with a hollow, waisted cylindrical body centred by a raised horizontal rib. The shape doesn’t look like any typical Chinese porcelain that we usually see. It was undoubtedly an object of wonder in the Qing imperial collection. What is the purpose of making a vessel without a bottom?
Metal stands of this form were made under Mamluk rule in Egypt or Syria, particularly in the first half of the fourteenth century. Generally considerably larger, they were used to support trays. They tend to be made of brass and are inlaid in gold and silver with bands of Arabic writing embedded in thin abstract scrollwork and interspersed with formal roundels. One example is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Silver-inland brass tray stand｜The Metropolitan Museum
When the Yongle Emperor (1403-1424) dispatched overland expeditions to the Middle East to showcase China’s supremacy internationally, he distributed huge quantities of fine silks and porcelains to foreign lands. On the other hand, the court received foreign goods in return, and Chinese craftsmen came in contact with foreign styles and tastes. The imperial kilns at Jingdezhen created many new styles, among them a series of vessels in the shapes of Persian, Syrian or Egyptian metal prototypes.
While Middle Eastern shapes were reproduced in some number in the Yongle period, Persian or Arabic inscriptions are rare on early Ming imperial porcelain. The inscriptions on the Mamluk metal stands relate the names or titles of high-ranking dignitaries or rulers, probably the stands’ owners, and eulogies on their virtues. On the porcelain versions, the inscriptions are no longer legible.
A blue and white Middle-Eastern inspired stand, Wudangzun. Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period｜Sotheby’s Hong Kong
A blue and white Middle-Eastern inspired stand, Wudangzun. Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period｜Sotheby’s Hong Kong
After three centuries, the porcelain stand passed down to the hand of the Qianlong Emperor. Perplexed by the intriguing shape and decoration, he was drawn to the exotic object, something that he called a ‘bottomless jar’ (wudangzun) and attributed to the Xuande period (1426-1435).
‘On a Xuande bottomless vase’ is recorded in ‘Anthology of imperial Qianlong poems and prose'
A ‘Ya-ch’in-fu-yi’ zun vessel from Shang dynasty｜National Palace Museum
He even composed two poems about vessels. In one of the poems, Song for a Xuande Ware Bottomless Jar, Qianlong Emperor wrote, ‘This piece basically emulates zun vessels and lei wine jars. But why is it made without a bottom, impossible to hold water! Now, don’t say this means we should be criticised. As when Tang Xigong had the occasion to confront Marquis Zhao, who belittled a pottery goblet and so valued the glitter of a jade, whose liquid when poured leaked out, unable to hold it at all. Then, he used the pottery one and just set the jade one aside.
Here, the Emperor alludes to a story in Han Feizi (Sayings of Master Han Fei), where Marquis Zhao, ruler of Han, 362-333 BC, is being asked ‘Now, here is a white jade goblet without a bottom, and a pottery goblet with a bottom. Which one, my Lord, will you use to drink?. . . . To be a ruler and yet let the good words of his ministers leak away is just like having a jade goblet that lacks a bottom’.
A blue and white Middle-Eastern inspired stand, Wudangzun. Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period｜Sotheby’s Hong Kong
A blue and white Middle-Eastern inspired stand, Wudangzun. Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period｜Sotheby’s Hong Kong
Qianlong Emperor loved the bottomless vessel so much that he had the porcelain copied by the imperial kilns. According to the Zaobanchu records, in 1775, the Emperor asked for the cloisonné liner of a piece such as this to be replaced with a new one. His second poem may have been composed for this piece, since in it he relates that a Jingtai style (i.e. cloisonné) liner was used, since no Xuande bronze example could be found. Later entries, from the Daoguang period (1820-1850), suggest that these pieces were actively used in the palace, not as stands but, fitted with liners, as flower vases.
Blue and white Arabic inscribed stand, wudangzun, Ming dynasty, Yongle period｜Collection of Palace Museum, Beijing
Blue and white Arabic inscribed stand, wudangzun, Ming dynasty, Yongle period｜Collection of Tianjin Municipal Museum
Porcelain vessels of this bottomless type are extremely rare with only seven or eight examples recorded. Six other stands of the present design appear to be recorded, all today in museum collections such as the Palace Museum, Tianjin Municipal Museum, Shanghai Museum and British Museum. The present one will go under the hammer this Hong Kong spring auction at Sotheby’s, with a conservative estimate of HK$20m-30m.
Highlights from the same sale
An Extremely Rare and Important Blue and White Middle-eastern Inspired Stand, Wudangzun
Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period
Lot no.: 102
Height: 17.2cm
Estimate: HK$20,000,000 - 30,000,000
A Rare Guan Lobed Jardinière
Southern Song – Yuan Dynasty
Lot no.: 105
Size: 15cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Mrs Alfred Clark (1890-1976), no. 661.
- Collection of Dr Lin, sold at Sotheby's London, 25th March 1975, lot 102.
- Acquired from Sakamoto Gorō (1923-2016) in 2003.
Estimate: HK$15,000,000 - 20,000,000
A Rare Guan Hexagonal Jardinière
Southern Song – Yuan Dynasty
Lot no.: 104
Size: 16.5cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Mrs Alfred Clark (1890-1976), no. 638.
- Sotheby’s London, 25th March 1975, lot 112.
- Acquired from Sakamoto Gorō (1923-2016) in 2003.
Estimate: HK$10,000,000 - 15,000,000
A Superb and Rare Blue and White Moulded 'dragon' Stem Cup
Yuan Dynasty
Lot no.: 106
Size: 11.5cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Stephen Junkunc III (1905-1978).
- Christie's Hong Kong, 25th October 1993, lot 718.
Estimate: HK$6,000,000 - 8,000,000
An Outstanding and Extremely Rare Wintergreen-glazed Stem Bowl
Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period
Lot no.: 101
Size: 16.3cm
Estimate: HK$3,000,000 - 5,000,000
A Rare Longquan Celadon Tobi Seiji Pear-shaped Vase, Yuhuchunping
Yuan Dynasty
Lot no: 103
Size: 26cm
Estimate: HK$2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Auction details
Auction house: Sotheby’s Hong Kong
Sale: Six Treasures from an Important Private Collection
Address: Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
Lots offered: 6
Viewings:
- 29 March 2019｜10am - 5:30pm
- 30 - 31 March 2019｜10am - 8pm
- 1 - 2 April｜10am - 6:30pm
Auction: 3 April 2019｜10:35am