A highly important and superbly enamelled imperial falangcai ‘swallow’ bowl, Blue enamel mark and period of Qianlong The porcelain possibly Yongzheng period, the enamel painted circa 1736 | 清乾隆 御製琺瑯彩杏林春燕圖盌 《乾隆年製》藍料款 瓷胎或為雍正 琺瑯彩約在1736年繪燒 A highly important and superbly enamelled imperial falangcai ‘swallow’ bowl, Blue enamel mark and period of Qianlong The porcelain possibly Yongzheng period, the enamel painted circa 1736 清乾隆 御製琺瑯彩杏林春燕圖盌 《乾隆年製》藍料款 瓷胎或為雍正 琺瑯彩約在1736年繪燒 11.3 cm superbly potted with utmost attention, the deep rounded body rising from a short foot to a gently flared rim, exquisitely painted around the exterior with a continuous scene like an unrolled handscroll wrapped around the vessel, depicting a pair of swallows in flight, near a willow tree with realistically rendered branches sprouting the first leaves of Spring, the joyful scene further detailed with an apricot tree in bloom, the five-petalled blooms finely enamelled in shaded tones of pink and speckled with yellow, the opposite side inscribed with a colophon excerpted from a poem said to have been commissioned by the Wanli Emperor, in praise of the swallows and graceful movements, between three puce-enamelled seal marks respectively reading jiali , xian chun , and xu ying , all against the immaculate milky-white porcelain body, the base inscribed in blue enamel with a four-character reign mark within a double square 此盌器形雅正，弧壁渾圓略撇，胎質細密，均淨乳白。從景德鎮御窰跋涉上送京師，宮中妙畫琺瑯彩。捧盌觀圖，猶若卷軸緩緩展開，細味雙燕歸林，筆觸細膩，翎毛栩栩如生。對鳥翔飛相顧盼，宣布春臨大地，並託比翼之願。燕歸之所，柳樹茁壯細葉茂，垂枝搖曳微風間。旁有杏花相倚，朵朵嬌妍，不論放縱盛綻，或是怯羞半開，詩情無限。另一面摘抄明萬曆首輔申時行律詩二句，曰：「玉剪穿花過，霓裳帶月歸」，詠燕子舞飛之雅。詩前有「佳麗」，後添「先春」與「旭映」，共紅料印三枚，妙與詩畫相呼應，尤顯清朗秀逸。足底雙方框內藍料書「乾隆年製」四字宋體款。 来源: Collection of Captain Charles Oswald Liddell (1854-1941), of Shanghai and Shirenewton Hall, Wales, assembled in the late 19th century when he resided in China (one of a pair). Bluett & Sons, London, 1929 (one of a pair, £ 150 each). Collection of Charles Ernest Russell (1866-1960) of King’s Ford, near Colchester, acquired from the above in May 1929. Collection of Barbara Hutton (1912-1979), at the time Baroness von Cramm, United States, acquired no later than 1956, sold in 1971, at the sale below. Sotheby’s London, 6th July 1971, lot 262 (£ 7,000). Collection of J.T. Tai (1911-1992), New York, purchased at the sale above and consigned to the sale below. Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 21st May 1985, lot 27 (HKD 1,000,000). Collection of S.C. Ko (1911-1992), the Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, acquired through Robert Chang from the sale above. Collection of Robert Chang, Hong Kong, acquired no later than 1993 and consigned to the sale below. Christie’s Hong Kong, An Exquisite Falangcai Bowl , 28th November 2006, lot 1309 (HKD 151,320,000). Thereafter with the present owner. Charles Oswald Liddell 上校（1854-1941年）收藏，上海及威爾斯 Shirenewton Hall，十九世紀末駐華期間入藏（一對之一） Bluett and Sons，倫敦，1929年（一對之一，每盌150英鎊） Charles Ernest Russell（1866-1960年）收藏，國王福特（近科爾切斯特），1929年5月購自上述場次 芭芭拉．赫頓（1912-1979年）收藏，時為馮克朗男爵夫人，美國，1956年或以前入藏，1971年在下述拍賣中易手 倫敦蘇富比1971年7月6日，編號262（7,000英鎊） 戴潤齋（1911-1992年）收藏，紐約，購自上述場次，在下述拍賣中易手 香港蘇富比1985年5月21日，編號27（1,000,000港幣） 葛士翹（1911-1992年）天民樓收藏，香港，經張宗憲從上述場次購入 張宗憲收藏，香港，1993年或以前入藏，在下述拍賣中易手 香港佳士得〈玉剪霓裳〉，2006年11月28日，編號1309（151,320,000港幣） 此後屬現藏家珍存 文学: The Liddell Collection of Old Chinese Porcelain , London, 1929, cat. no. 140 and pl. V. R.L. Hobson, Bernard Rackham and William King, Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections , London, 1931, fig. 352. The Barbara Hutton Collection of Chinese Porcelain , Hawaii, 1956, catalogue pl. XXV. Chinese Porcelain, The S. C. Ko Tianminlou Collection , Hong Kong, 1987, cat. no. 112. An Exhibition of Important Chinese Ceramics from the Robert Chang Collection , London, 1993, cat. no. 105. Sotheby's Hong Kong – Twenty Years , Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 227. Sotheby's. Thirty Years in Hong Kong , Hong Kong, 2003, pl. 321. Sotheby’s. Forty Years in Asia , Hong Kong, 2013, p. 56. 《The Liddell Collection of Old Chinese Porcelain》，倫敦，1929年，編號140及圖版V 霍布森、Bernard Rackham 及 William King，《Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections》，倫敦，1931年，圖352 《The Barbara Hutton Collection of Chinese Porcelain》，夏威夷，1956年，圖版XXV 《天民樓藏瓷》，香港，1987年，編號112 《雲海閣重要中國陶瓷：張宗憲珍藏展》，倫敦，1993年，編號105 《香港蘇富比二十周年》，香港，1993年，圖版227 《香港蘇富比三十週年》，香港，2003年，圖版321 《蘇富比亞洲四十年》，香港，2013年，頁56 拍品专文: Foreword Few collectors in recent history have enlivened the Hong Kong salerooms to the same extent as Dr Alice Cheng, and her dramatic entrance at an auction often heralds a new record price for Chinese porcelain. With great passion and style, Alice has assembled since the late 1990s a formidable collection of imperial Chinese porcelain that reflects her impeccable taste. Her discriminating eye has, over the years, mostly focused on the finest wares of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, the Qing dynasty’s greatest emperors. When asked what motivates her acquisitions, Alice will say, “I buy what I like.” Indeed, most of the objects that grace her collection were acquired with passion and the sharpest instinct. Dr Alice Cheng was born in Shanghai and grew up surrounded by fine objects. Her grandfather, Zhang Jiru, was a famous carver who Empress Dowager Cixi once even commissioned to work. Her father, Zhang Zhongying, was a celebrated antique dealer, in whose footsteps her brother Robert would later follow and build the illustrious career that we know in the field of Chinese art. Alice, a free spirit, went on to build an extraordinary career in business and take an active role in various social issues. She is also very well-known in the world of philanthropy, generously supporting causes in Hong Kong and the mainland, such as improving cultural development, education, health, and wellness of ethnic minorities and fighting poverty. Alice Cheng has devoted much of her resources and time to charitable causes. She was invited to participate in the Standing Committee of the 9th and 10th National Committees of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). She has also been honoured with the prestigious titles of Gold Bauhinia Star (GBS, Hong Kong) and the Magnolia Award of Shanghai. Alice is a long-term benefactor of the World Children’s Fund. She also champions promoting cultural and economic exchange between China and other countries. She was awarded by Sweden the Insignia of the Commander of the Royal Order of the Polar Star, and was later elevated to the Commander Grand Cross. In 2002, Sotheby's specialists discovered in Purchase, New York, a famille-rose vase with peaches, which had been mounted as a lamp in the 1960s and used as such ever since. The news of the discovery made headlines around the world. When the piece came up at auction in Hong Kong, Alice Cheng, with her trademark cool and determined bidding, purchased the vase against fierce competition, then a world record for Chinese porcelain. She donated it to the Shanghai Museum in 2004, and the vase now stands proudly there, a testament to the generosity and refined taste of Dr Alice Cheng, one of Asia's most inspiring collectors. __________________________ Spring in the Forbidden City Regina Krahl The cold Beijing winter, when the water froze on the ink stone, would have been a most uncomfortable time even for the Emperor in the imperial palace. Nothing was probably awaited more eagerly than the advent of spring. Seeing a bowl like this with its promise of a change of seasons and an outlook to more joyful days, could not have failed to warm people’s hearts, in the Qianlong period, as it does today. A fruit tree in bloom, a willow sprouting its first leaves, and the return of migrating swallows spell a universal message of spring, understood as such the world over, wherever these birds and plants are native. The idea that porcelains from Jingdezhen could be decorated with enamels inside the Forbidden City, close to the imperial living quarters, to enable the emperor to follow and criticise the results first hand, was initiated by the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1662-1722) late in his reign. Not surprisingly, the early examples of falangcai , ‘foreign colours’, as the resulting wares are generally known, mostly still display an experimental quality. In the Yongzheng period (1723-1735), as imperial painters were recruited for the enamelling, this experimental stage had passed. Ts’ai Ho-pi considers that during this period “enamel painting on porcelain was on a par with court painting” ( Qing gongzhong falangcai ci tezhan/Special Exhibition of Ch’ing Dynasty Enamelled Porcelains of the Imperial Ateliers , Taipei, 1992, p. 21). Pieces painted with such sparse and refined nature motifs as seen here, ‘wrapped’ around the vessel like an unrolled handscroll, were done in Beijing for only a very short period. They are characteristic of the Yongzheng reign and the present bowl with its imperial Qianlong reign mark (1736-1795), must date from the earliest years of that period. In quality and decorative style, it would be difficult to distinguish it from Yongzheng examples. This small group of porcelains, today mostly preserved in the Palace Museum, Taipei, represents the peak of painting on porcelain, an artistry that was never surpassed, however hard the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen under their supervisor Tang Ying, strove to excel. Not only in its composition does the present bowl follow Yongzheng models; the calligraphy is also very similar to Yongzheng prototypes and the seals are all known from Yongzheng vessels. In the Qianlong reign, the palace enamellers soon abandoned this painterly style for denser and more colourful compositions. Characteristic are landscape or figure motifs, and vessels fully covered, at least on one side, with coloured enamels, see Fengge gushi. Qianlong nian shi falangcai ci / Story of an Artistic Style. Imperial Porcelain with Painted Enamels of the Qianlong Emperor , Palace Museum, Taipei, 2021, passim . Since this bowl is so similar to Yongzheng pieces also in shape, it could even be one of those pieces mentioned by Ts’ai, which were fired as blanks in Jingdezhen still in the Yongzheng period, but enamelled in Beijing in the Qianlong reign (Ts’ai Ho-pi, op.cit. , p. 21). This bowl once formed a pair together with its one counterpart, now in the Sir Percival David Collection in the British Museum, with which it remained united until 1929 ( fig. 2 ). When the present piece was bought by Charles Russell, its twin was acquired by The Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone, but had already entered Sir Percival David’s collection by the time it was shown at the Royal Academy of Art exhibition, London 1935 ( International Exhibition of Chinese Art , cat. no. 2283). The production of complementary pairs with closely related but differing designs and identical inscriptions appears to have been the rule in the Yongzheng period, see Yu Pei-chin, ed., Yin cheng xu ying. Qing Yongzheng falangcai ci/Porcelain with Painted Enamels of Qing Yongzheng Period (1723-1735) , Palace Museum, Taipei, 2013, passim . Like on Yongzheng bowls and dishes, the composition on the present pair is laid out in mirror image, but the motifs are differently rendered, as if the same scene had been captured twice, but at different moments and from different angles. Bird and flower paintings were one of China’s classic painting genres. Painters such as Bian Luan, who worked at the court around the late eighth century, specialized in the depiction of birds already in the Tang dynasty; in the Five Dynasties period, in the tenth century, the genre became popular, with painters such as Huang Jucai, and by the Song period (960-1279) it was fully established. Swallows were of course also depicted among other trees, but they often feature in paintings either with apricot or with willow trees. A willow and swallows are the subject, for example, of a painting by Mu Xi (1225-1270) in the Tokugawa Art Museum, Aichi, included in the exhibition Nan Sō keiga. Saijō gachi no sekai / Southern Song Paintings. Elegant and Noble in Soul , Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, Tokyo, 2004, cat. no. 59; or of an anonymous Southern Song fan painting in the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington, D.C. (acquisition no. F1944.51). Paintings of swallows and apricot trees are preserved, copied in woven form on kesi panels: one such piece reproducing a painting by Xu Xi (tenth century) is in the Washington Museum (acquisition no. S2012.9.4083); another after Cui Bai (eleventh century) is in Taipei ( Kesi/Special Exhibition of Tapestry , Palace Museum, Taipei, 1989, cat. no. 20). In the Yongzheng period, bird-and-flower motifs became a favoured topic for falangcai porcelains. In the Qing imperial workshops, the genre may have received a boost in interest, when the Kangxi Emperor commissioned the court painter Jiang Tingxi (1669-1732), who had specialized in birds and flowers, to prepare a Manual of Birds . This work, which is recorded to have comprised twelve volumes with thirty paintings and descriptions each, is dispersed, but it is known to have been a favourite of the Qianlong Emperor, who in 1750 commissioned a copy. Two court painters, Jiang’s pupil Yu Sheng, and Zhang Weibang, prepared another Manual of Birds for him, based on his grandfather’s version. Of this work, which was completed in 1761 also in twelve volumes recording over 300 species, all carefully described in Chinese and Manchu, four volumes are preserved in the Palace Museum, Taipei ( Gugong niao pu/The Manual of Birds , 4 vols, Taipei, 1997). Although these manuals were conceived more for scientific reasons, they were executed by court painters and represent works of art in their own right. Unfortunately, swallows are not contained in the extant albums, but the clean, polished style, which depicts the birds predominantly among flowering or leafy branches against an empty background and probably reflects the Kangxi prototypes, is not unlike falangcai bird paintings. It would be surprising if these court painters, working in close proximity to the porcelain painters in the Forbidden City, had not influenced their work. The combination of birds and plants on this bowl is a classic grouping to indicate spring. The arrival of swallows in spring – unlike that of other migratory birds – tends not to pass unnoticed due to these birds’ noisy, seemingly joyful shrieks and chatter in the air, their swift flight, and their distinctive silhouette against the sky. The Chinese character for swallow, yan , is a pictograph in the form of a creature with spread wings and a forked tail already found on Shang dynasty oracle bones. Swallows often fly or perch in pairs and even if perhaps not mating for life, they are known to stay close together, to build their nests and raise their young together, and thus symbolize a loving couple. Because of their graceful appearance, beautiful woman throughout history have in China been compared to swallows, one of the first of these mythical beauties being Zhao Feiyan (‘flying swallow’), empress of Han Chengdi (r. 33-7 BC), known for her delicate, slender physique, revered by the Emperor and vilified in romantic tales ever after. The willow on our bowl has been carefully rendered in its spring habit, not yet in its full greenery, with some leaves still only a pale yellow. The flowering branches can be identified as apricot, their blossoms having round petals – unlike the peach – and their branches already showing a bit of green – unlike flowering prunus. They are rendered like this, for example, in paintings by the Ming artist Shen Zhou (1427-1509)( Wan zi qian hong. Zhongguo gudai huamu ticai wenwu tezhan [Ten thousand shades of purple, one thousand reds. Special exhibition of ancient Chinese cultural relics with flower and tree themes], Beijing, 2019, vol. 2, nos 091 and 183). The colophon on this bowl gives the painting deeper meaning. It reads Yu jian chuan hua guo, Ni chang dai yue gui . ‘Scissors of jade cut through the flowers, Like rainbow garments brought back from the moon.’ and thereby compares the swallows’ graceful movements to dancing motions of female immortals. ‘Scissors of jade’ refer to the swallows with their forked tail. ‘Rainbow garments’ is a reference to the song Ni chang yu yi (‘Rainbow garments and feather robes’), reputedly composed by the Tang emperor Xuanzong (r. 712-756) from memory, after he had followed a Daoist alchemist to the moon, where he had heard the tune and seen fairies in such garb dancing to it. Feather robes are the attire associated with Daoist immortals. The Emperor’s favourite at the court, the notorious concubine Yang Guifei, is said thereafter to have danced for him to this song, dressed in this manner. The renowned poet Bo Juyi (772-846) referred to this dance repeatedly in his poems about this period, when the Emperor’s infatuation with Daoist practices and beautiful women is considered to have led to a rebellion that nearly sealed the fate of the dynasty, for example in his famous Song of Eternal Sorrow . The two lines inscribed here are taken from a longer poem by Shen Shixing (1535-1614), first Grand Secretary, erstwhile tutor and long-time trusted advisor to Emperor Wanli (r. 1573-1620). The poem, said to have been commissioned [by the Emperor] to be written on a fan with apricot blossoms and swallows, is in the seven-character verse form; to make the inscription better fit the space on the bowls, two descriptive characters opening each line have been omitted. Besides these historic evocations which were undoubtedly intended in the imperial workshops, the motif has also more popular associations which, however, may have been of lesser importance for an imperial piece: Xinglin chun man (or nuan ), ‘Apricot Grove full of spring’ is a reference to a Doctor, Dong Feng, of the Three Kingdom’s period (third century) with miraculous healing qualities, who asked cured patients to plant apricot trees in lieu of a remuneration, and whose apricot grove thus became a symbol of medical success. Xinglin chunyan , ‘spring banquet in the Apricot Grove’ ( yan , banquet being homophone to yan , swallows) is another expression signalling achievement, as it refers to a reception given successful candidates at the imperial examinations during the Tang dynasty. The seals before and after the colophon, whose significance is not fully understood, are often seen on Yongzheng pieces, where jiali and xu ying are most common, generally combined with a different seal top left, while xian chun often appears on the right-hand side, before the inscription. These seals are rarely seen on bowls of the Qianlong period. A pair of bowls of Yongzheng mark and period with a different composition of the same subject of swallows, apricot and willow branches, but painted in a very similar style, in the same enamel tones, and inscribed with the same poetic lines, is in the Palace Museum, Taipei, and was included in the 2013 exhibition, see Yu Pei-chin, op.cit. , no. 078 ( fig. 1 ). In another exhibition featuring one of these bowls, Yu relates that according to the palace records, ‘a large pair of bowls with apricot grove and spring swallows’ was submitted to the court in 1734, which suggests that only a couple of years separated the production of the present bowl and its pair from that of the Taipei bowls ( Yongzheng. Qing Shizong wenwu dazhan/Harmony and Integrity. The Yongzheng Emperor and His Times , Palace Museum, Taipei, 2009, cat. no. II-10). These motifs appear also on a small Qianlong vase, also with the same colophon, but here incorporated into a more complex design, combined with paradise flycatchers, bamboo and rocks, see the Museum’s exhibition Qing gongzhong falangcai ci tezhan/Special Exhibition of Ch’ing Dynasty Enamelled Porcelains of the Imperial Ateliers , Taipei, 1992, cat. no. 133. The present bowl has a most remarkable provenance, which can be traced to the late Qing dynasty. Captain Charles Oswald Liddell (1854-1941, fig. 3 ), the first recorded owner, went to China in 1877 and formed his collection during his time there at the end of the Qing dynasty. Through his marriage he had inherited a wharf in Shanghai, which traded, among other things, in feathers and carpets, and expanded the business together with his brother as Liddell Bros to Hankow, Tientsin and Harbin. As the name, traditionally pronounced with emphasis on the first syllable, in China led to confusion with a company named Little Bros, they decided to shift emphasis to the second syllable. He was able to acquire important ceramics from Zaifeng, Prince Chun (1883-1951), the last Regent of the Qing dynasty from 1908 to 1911, also from the private secretary of the high official Li Hongzhang (1823-1901) in Tientsin, and from a private collection in Shanghai, and managed to procure this bowl together with its pair, which ended up in the collection of Sir Percival David. While the Liddell company continued to operate in China for longer, the couple settled in Shirenewton Hall in Monmouthshire, Wales, around the turn of the century, a grand country house, where they built a ‘Japanese Garden’ with a Japanese tea house, Chinese-style pagoda, and plants brought back as seeds from East Asia ( fig. 9 ). The house remained in the family until recently, when it still contained Chinese porcelains. The pair of bowls was split in the sale of parts of the Liddell collection at Bluett and Sons, London, in 1929, where the present piece was bought by Charles Ernest Russell (1866-1960) of King’s Ford, near Colchester. Born in New Zealand, but soon living in England, Russell was a prolific collector of English glass, porcelain, furniture, paintings and other Western art, which he also researched and published on. He turned to Chinese porcelain in the 1920s and became one of the early members of the Oriental Ceramic Society, which he joined in 1928. He was interested in Song and Ming wares, but as an early owner of one of the dated Yuan dynasty ‘David Vases’ of 1351, as well as a remarkable group of falangcai porcelains, he displayed a rare understanding of the topic ahead of his time, when both types of ceramics were not yet accepted by many of his contemporaries. R.L. Hobson devoted three chapters to Russell’s collection in the 1931 book on private collections, where he also remarked on this ‘exquisite bowl’. We do not know when and where Barbara Hutton (1912-1979, fig. 4 ) acquired it, but in 1956 she lent it to an exhibition in Hawaii. Hutton, heiress of the Woolworth empire, was a life-long philanthropist. In 1934 she travelled to China, and later assembled a remarkable collection of Qing porcelains, under the tuition of the eminent dealer Edward T. Chow, which was sold at Sotheby’s in 1971. At that sale, the bowl was bought by J.T. Tai (1911-1992, fig. 5 ). Tai Jun Tsei was an important dealer of ancient Chinese art, who had started at his uncle’s antique store in Wuxi near Shanghai, then opened his own gallery in Shanghai, Fuyuanzhai Guwandian, and after having moved to Hong Kong, eventually settled in New York, where in 1950 he opened a gallery on Madison Avenue. He was instrumental in forming several major American collections, such as those of Avery Brundage and Arthur M. Sackler. A group of porcelains from his collection, including this bowl, was sold at Sotheby’s in 1985, for the benefit of the J. T. Tai Foundation, to support medical research. According to Roy Davids and Dominic Jellinek ( Provenance. Collectors, Dealers and Scholars: Chinese Ceramics in Britain and America , Great Haseley, 2011, p. 416), Brian Morgan, Director at Bluett and Sons, London, annotated this bowl in their copy of the auction catalogue with the words ‘Super Apex’. S.C. Ko (Ko Shih Chao, 1911-1992, fig. 6 ), who acquired the bowl probably through Robert Chang ( fig. 7 ), who bought it at the J.T. Tai auction, arrived in Hong Kong from mainland China late in the 1940s. He started collecting Chinese ceramics around the 1970s and assembled one of the most remarkable groups of Chinese ceramics, mainly from the Ming and Qing dynasties, under the name Tianminlou collection. He was also chairman of the influential Min Chiu Society of collectors in Hong Kong. He always made his collection readily available to students and lent to many exhibitions, most notably to the Hong Kong Museum of Art 1987-8, where the present bowl was included. A late owner, who particularly treasured this bowl, was Robert Chang (Zhang Zongxian), born in the 1920s and now nearly centenarian, enthusiastic collector and dealer throughout his life. He arrived in Hong Kong from Shanghai in 1948, built up from scratch a small empire selling Chinese art and became a driving force in the flowering of the Hong Kong art market, styling himself ‘Number One’. Although originally drawn particularly to ceramics, he eventually dealt in all types of Chinese antiquities as well as modern paintings. His story was featured in the jubilee publication of Sotheby’s Forty Years in Asia, where from the thousands of pieces he handled throughout his career, the present bowl was chosen to be illustrated. When he sold the bowl, it entered the collection of his younger sister, Dr Alice Cheng ( fig. 8 ), businesswoman in her own right, philanthropist and important collector of fine Qing porcelain. Also native of Shanghai, settling in Hong Kong in her Forties, she built up a series of successful business ventures in Hong Kong itself and in mainland China, in the fields of petroleum, real estate, IT technology and transportation. Besides being deeply involved in political and commercial activities, she is also engaged in many philanthropic causes, supporting commerce, education and culture in various regions of China. Her love of Qing imperial porcelain led her in 2002 to pay a world record price for a unique peach-decorated vase of the Yongzheng period, which she donated in the following year to the Shanghai Museum, where it now takes pride of place. She has been decorated with many honours in China and elsewhere. For the present bowl, yet a new chapter can now begin in its long and distinguished history. 前言 張永珍博士，每次現身拍賣場，皆耀眼矚目，且三度為中國瓷器刷新成交紀錄。近年大概沒有多少其他收藏家，能像她一樣為香港古玩拍賣市場帶來如斯活力朝氣。張博士明辨善鑑，熱衷中國藝術，自九十年代始，搜羅不少御製珍瓷，幾乎全乃清康雍乾盛世之上色佳器，精緻琳瑯，品味雅尚。若問她蒐藏之由，想必張博士會道是「喜歡就買」。事實上，觀其雅蓄，當中許多珍品，皆因感興所至，便納入其藏。 張永珍博士，出生於上海古玩世家，她自幼在瑰寶佳品的薰陶下長大。祖父張楫如為雕刻家，聞名遐邇，曾獲邀為慈禧太后刻作獻藝。父親張仲英則乃著名骨董商。兄張宗憲繩其祖武，專營古玩，有聲有色，在中國藝術界享負盛名。而張博士率性隨心，致力商界，更活躍於社會。眾知她德澤廣施，樂善不倦，她的慷慨惠及香港乃至全中國的文化、教育、衛生、少數民族及光彩事業，捐資甚至超過收藏。 她歷任全國政協第九屆、第十屆常委，榮獲香港特別行政區金紫荊星章和上海市白玉蘭獎章，她還多年資助世界兒童基金會、獲授瑞典皇家北極星勇士和皇家司令官大十字勳章，及2010年中瑞最傑出成就貢獻獎，成為中外文化、經濟交流的佼佼者。 2002年，蘇富比專家在紐約帕切斯偶見一瓶，繪飾粉彩蝠桃「福壽」紋，自六十年代始被用作燈座。此項發現被傳媒廣泛報導，及後粉彩瓶現身拍賣，競投熾熱，張博士貫徹其往常風格，銳意果斷，最終投得佳品，創下中國瓷器拍賣之世界紀錄。2004年，她將此橄欖瓶惠贈予上海博物館。如今，這件稀世珍寶傲立展館，標誌著張博士的惠澤善行與雅致品味。張博士厚德崇雅，誠最具感染力的亞洲藏家之一。 __________________________ 春臨紫禁城 康蕊君 北京冬月濃時，冰霜酷寒，硯池皆凍，令人難耐，即使帝王亦同，上下殷盼春日之始。杏林春燕圖捕捉季節交替之瞬，萬物復甦，欣欣向榮，古今觀者皆得其暖意舒心。果樹枝頭嬌蕊盛放，青柳抽芽，歸燕捎來春意，如此景象之表徵，春暖花開，舉世皆識。 康熙晚期，始令景德鎮燒造素白瓷胎，運至紫禁城，由造辦處作坊加彩裝飾，以便帝王就近督造。早期燒造之琺瑯彩、洋彩瓷，多見實驗性質，方屬摸索研發階段。雍正一朝，宮廷畫師參與繪瓷，工藝更顯臻熟，《清宮中琺瑯彩瓷特展》，台北，1992年，頁21，蔡和璧論及，雍朝琺瑯彩瓷紋飾可媲美當朝宮廷繪畫。 杏林春燕圖盌，描寫細膩自然，宛似一幅卷軸繪畫包覆於器身，此類琺瑯彩瓷造於北京，前後僅短暫一段時期，可謂雍正朝特有，本品書乾隆年款，應屬初年之作，若論品質與風格，幾與雍正作例無異。此類琺瑯彩瓷為數甚稀，存世者多為台北故宮博物院藏品，其藝術造詣至美臻極，無論督陶官唐英領導下的景德鎮御窰廠如何努力，亦無法超越的。 本盌不僅繪畫構圖依循上述雍正朝琺瑯彩瓷樣式，詩文筆法、印款亦極相近。乾隆時期，宮造琺瑯彩瓷，極早即棄此繪畫風格，另發展更為繁複多彩之紋飾。乾隆琺瑯彩特色如山水、人物題材，至少一面滿彩，見《風格故事：乾隆年製琺瑯彩瓷》，故宮博物院，台北，2021年。本品器形近似雍窰例，或屬蔡和璧所述，素白盌身造於雍正時期景德鎮，乾隆初年才在北京以琺瑯彩繪就（蔡和璧，前述出處，頁 21）。 此件杏林春燕圖盌，原為成對直至1929年，另一盌現存大英博物館大維德基金會，當年 Charles Russell 購藏本品時，與此成對之盌則入 The Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone 收藏，1935年倫敦皇家藝術學院展覽時，已是大維德爵士藏品，《International Exhibition of Chinese Art》，編號2283（ 圖二 ）。此類雍正琺瑯彩瓷，多成對燒造，二器紋飾略有差異，詩文一致，參考余佩瑾編，《金成旭映：清雍正琺瑯彩瓷》，故宮博物院，台北，2013年。與雍瓷一致，此對杏林春燕圖盌，構圖布局鏡像相對，紋飾略異，彷似同一場景，然捕捉角度略異。 花鳥畫屬傳統中國繪畫一系，八世紀末已有唐代宮廷畫家邊鸞，擅畫鳥禽；十世紀五代時，花鳥繪畫越見盛行，知名畫家有如黃居寀。在宋代以前，此類繪畫已發展蓬勃。燕子雖偶見搭配其他樹種，多數仍為杏樹或柳樹，如愛知縣德川美術館藏牧谿繪畫，展出於《南宋絵画―才情雅致の世界》，根津美術館，東京，2004年，編號59；或如華盛頓特區佛利爾美術館藏一幅南宋扇面繪畫，館藏編號 F1944.51。杏林春燕圖流傳於世，並應用於緙絲織品，如一幅參照徐熙（十世紀）繪畫，現存佛利爾美術館，館藏編號 S2012.9.4083；另一例依據崔白（十一世紀）畫作，藏於台北，《緙絲》，故宮博物院，1989年，編號20。 雍正時期琺瑯彩瓷常見花鳥畫題材，如此偏好或可溯至康熙朝，宮廷畫師蔣廷錫，擅花鳥，受命繪製《鳥譜》，共十二冊，各冊三十幅，現已散失，據傳深得乾隆帝歡心，1750年令蔣氏門徒余省與張為邦合仿摹本，1761年完成，載錄超過三百種鳥禽，共十二冊，內文滿漢並行詳錄特徵細節，其中四冊現藏台北故宮博物院，《故宮鳥譜》，四卷，台北，1997年。繪製《鳥譜》雖應為科學目的，經宮廷畫師之手，細緻精美，亦是藝術傑作。可惜存世之冊無見燕鳥，然而細觀此盌，春燕遊嬉於花葉枝枒之間，背景留白，繪畫風格精練、素潔，恰似上述康熙朝繪畫雛本，仿似僅更換媒材，以琺瑯彩繪之矣。宮廷畫師與琺瑯作匠師，工作場所相鄰，若彼此交流影響，亦是合理。 「杏林春燕」乃經典題材，寓意春臨。不似其他候鳥，燕子春歸引人注意，往往伴隨熱鬧鳥鳴，彷彿歡慶，飛行速度極快，英姿獨特，一望即知。商代甲骨文中「燕」字屬象形，取其樣貌，雙翼平展，尾羽如雙叉。 燕多成雙成對，伴侶關係緊密，一同築巢育雛，常作為愛侶之象徵。其姿態優美，中國歷史上時見用以比擬美人，如漢成帝皇后趙飛燕，據傳纖瘦窈窕，深得帝王愛慕，盛名古今。 此盌紋飾，楊柳嫩葉方萌，杏花圓瓣，枝間微見芽點，精準表現初春景緻，相似題材，如明代畫家沈周（1427-1509年）之作，見《萬紫千紅：中國古代花木題材文物特展》，北京，2019年，卷2，編號091、183。 盌身詩文：「玉剪穿花過，霓裳帶月歸」，以燕鳥飛翔姿態比擬仙女樂舞之美。 「玉剪」意指燕尾，「霓裳」借意《霓裳羽衣曲》，傳唐玄宗跟隨道教術士遊覽月宮，聞此仙樂，仙人隨之起舞，後憶其音律所作。羽衣乃道教神仙衣著，楊貴妃傳曾著羽衣，伴隨樂曲為玄宗起舞。白居易（772-846年）曾多次在詩中提及此曲，如《長恨歌》，紀錄帝王沉溺道術美人，唐帝國由盛而衰的轉捩點。 此二絕句出自明萬曆首輔申時行（1535-1614年），原詩較長為七言律詩，傳萬曆帝命其所作，書於扇面，並繪杏花飛燕。此處為符合盌身紋飾比例，酌減句首二字。 上述淵源之外，此題材也與「杏林春滿」或「杏林春暖」典故有關，源自三國名醫董奉，醫治病人僅要求種杏樹做為報酬，杏林遂有醫術高超之意。「杏林春宴」，與「燕」同音，意指唐代朝廷宴請新科進士之宴席。 詩句前後印章，雍正琺瑯彩瓷時有，又以「佳麗」、「旭映」最為常見，左上搭配另一印，「先春」多見於右側，乾隆作例上此類印章則較罕見。 台北故宮博物院藏一對雍正杏林春燕圖盌，構圖略異但題材相同，且繪畫風格極為相近，琺瑯彩色調一致，且詩文相同，收入2013年展覽，見余佩瑾，前述出處，編號078（ 圖一 ）。其一又曾展出於《雍正：清世宗文物大展》，故宮博物院，台北，編號 II-10，余氏論及清代檔案中「雍正十二年（1734）進呈的清單中也包含『杏林春燕大盌一對』」，以此推知本品燒造之時僅與雍正例，即台北故宮藏品，相距或僅只三兩年。參考一見乾隆窰小瓶，相同題材、詩文，構圖較繁複，加入壽帶鳥、竹、岩石，見《清宮中琺瑯彩瓷特展》，前述出處，編號133。 本品流傳來源極為顯赫，可溯至晚清。Charles Oswald Liddell 上校（1854-1941年， 圖三 ）為首位記載可循之藏家，其1877年赴中，駐華期間逐步建構珍藏，因姻親關係繼承一上海碼頭，以進出口羽毛、地毯為主，並與其兄弟組成 Liddell Bros 公司，擴張生意至漢口、天津、哈爾濱。其英文名發音易與 Little Bros 混淆，遂修改重音至第二音節，以示區別。Liddell 上校珍藏來源包括醇親王載灃（1883-1951年），1908-1911年為清代最後一任攝政王，從此處購得重要陶瓷器，其他如天津李鴻章（1823-1901年），以及一上海私人收藏。所蒐珍寶包括成對杏林春燕圖盌，此對中另一器後入大維德爵士珍藏。世紀之交，Liddell Bros 公司持續於中國經營，上校則回到英國，定居於威爾斯蒙茅斯郡 Shirenewton 莊園（ 圖九 ），園內設有日式花園、茶室，中式高塔，及許多自遠東攜回的珍奇植物。莊園中藏有中國瓷器，多年來仍屬家族後代，直至近期。 1929年，Liddell 上校珍藏由倫敦古董商 Bluett and Sons 出售，此盌由居於金斯福特（近科爾切斯特）的 Charles Ernest Russell（1866-1960年）購得。Russell 生於紐西蘭，後遷至英格蘭，為知名收藏家，藏品包括英國玻璃器、瓷器、家具、繪畫及西洋藝術，並撰寫相關書籍。1920年代，其收藏興趣轉向中國瓷器，1928年加入東方陶瓷學會，成為早期會員之一。其收藏興趣為宋明陶瓷，曾珍藏1351年造的元青花「大維德瓶」，還有一批重要琺瑯彩瓷。Russell 對於此類器物的理解，超越同時期學者。1931年，R.L. Hobson 關於私人收藏的著作中，曾用三個章節介紹 Russell 收藏，其中形容此盌「精美絕倫」。 杏林春燕圖盌何時何地進入芭芭拉．赫頓（1912-1979年， 圖四 ）收藏，現已無從稽查。1956年，赫頓借展至夏威夷。她是美國沃爾沃斯集團女繼承人，畢生致力慈善事業，1934年曾赴華旅遊，藉著仇焱之的輔助，集成重要清代瓷器收藏，至1971年經蘇富比釋出。 戴潤齋（1911-1992年， 圖五 ），於上述拍賣購得本品，戴氏乃知名中國高古藝術古董商，發跡於上海，原在無錫舅父開設古董店工作，後於上海設立福源齋古玩店，後遷至香港，最終定居紐約，1950年於麥迪遜大道開設店鋪。戴氏曾協助建立不少重要美國收藏，如布倫戴奇、亞瑟．賽克勒。1985年，戴氏於蘇富比出售瓷器珍藏，包括本盌，所得助建戴潤齋基金會，用以資助醫學研究。據 Roy Davids 與 Dominic Jellinek，《Provenance. Collectors, Dealers and Scholars: Chinese Ceramics in Britain and America》，Great Haseley，2011年，頁416，當時倫敦古董商 Bluett and Sons 經理 Brian Morgan，在拍賣圖錄中標記本品「極致絕品」。 葛士翹（1911-1992年， 圖六 ）或經由張宗憲（ 圖七 ）購得此盌，張氏購於戴潤齋拍賣。葛氏在1940年代晚期自中國遷至香港，約1970年代開始收藏中國陶瓷，以明清為主，堂號天民樓，亦是香港收藏家雅集敏求精舍會長，葛氏大方分享藏品予同好，也時常借展，最知名的為1987-8年香港藝術館展覽，本盌亦在其列。 本品猶得張宗憲珍愛。張氏生於1920年代，已近百歲，知名古董商，終生熱衷收藏。1948年自滬赴港，白手起家經營中國藝術買賣，逐步建立起一方帝國，可謂香港藝術市場之一大推手，更有拍場「Number One」雅號。自瓷器起家，張氏且涉獵各類中國藝術品，包括現代繪畫。《香港蘇富比四十周年》，香港，2013年，詳述其收藏故事，張氏畢生經手數千精品中，獨挑本品刊載。 張宗憲其後於拍賣釋出杏林春燕圖盌，其妹張永珍博士（ 圖八 ）購入珍藏。張博士為女企業家，亦是慈善家及重要中國清代瓷器收藏家。與兄長一樣出身上海，40歲時遷居香港，在中港設立事業版圖，跨足油田、地產、科技及運輸。政商活動之外，並支持許多慈善事業，關注中國商業、教育、文化等發展。張博士鍾愛清代瓷器，2002年曾創下世界最高價拍賣紀錄，購得一件孤品雍正桃紋瓶，隔年捐贈上海博物館，為鎮館名品之一。張博士於中國及世界各地屢獲奬譽及勳銜。 坐擁如斯顯赫承傳歷史的乾隆琺瑯彩杏林春燕圖盌，現將迎來更輝煌新一章。 展出: The Liddell Collection of Old Chinese Porcelain , Bluett and Sons, London, 1929. The Barbara Hutton Collection of Chinese Porcelain , Honolulu Academy of Arts, Hawaii, 1956. Chinese Porcelain, The S. C. Ko Tianminlou Collection , Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1987. An Exhibition of Important Chinese Ceramics from the Robert Chang Collection , Christie's London, 1993. 《The Liddell Collection of Old Chinese Porcelain》，Bluett and Sons，倫敦，1929年 《The Barbara Hutton Collection of Chinese Porcelain》，檀香山藝術博物館，夏威夷，1956年 《天民樓藏瓷》，香港藝術館，香港，1987年 《雲海閣重要中國陶瓷：張宗憲珍藏展》，佳士得，倫敦，1993年