A RARE AND IMPORTANT ALBUM LEAF FROM THE HUANGCHAO LIQI TUSHI WITH AN IMPERIALLY INSCRIBED SILK PAINTING OF THE EMPRESS DOWAGER AND EMPRESS CONSORT’S DRAGON VEST (CHAOGUA), QIANLONG PERIOD

Expert’s note
: The present pair of leaves may belong to the same manuscript as those in the British Library, the National Museums of Scotland, the National Museum of Ireland, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and those sold at Woolley & Wallis, 12 November 2019. Altogether, these may once have been part of the version kept in the Wenyuan Pavilion library in the Yuanming yuan Summer Palace, Beijing, as indicated by the main seal on two pages from the manuscript in the Victoria & Albert Museum.

China, 1750-1759. Ink and watercolors on silk, laid down on paper. One side illustrating an Imperial dragon vest (chaogua) of the Empress Dowager and Empress consort, and the other side with eleven lines of inscription regarding the regulations for such vests. Exquisitely painted, the dragon vest is designed with six golden five-clawed dragons pursuing flaming pearls on a midnight-blue ground surrounded by polychrome lingzhi-form clouds above crashing waves. The black-ground hem and borders are shown in gold thread with scroll designs, and the interior is lined with red silk.


Inscriptions:
Right hand leaf, ‘The painting of the official vest of the Empress Dowager and Empress consort.’ Left hand leaf, ‘The empress dowager and the empress consort’s official vest shall be made in accordance with the regulations of our era: the empress dowager and the empress consort’s vest should be an azurite blue and have gold hems and seams. The front and back shall have two standing dragons above four further levels with four dragons. Below are to be ten thousand bats and ten thousand shou and behind the color a yellow sash with jewelry. The imperial concubine and crown princess shall follow similar regulations.’


Provenance:
French trade.

Condition:
Very good condition with minor wear, little soiling, minor creasing, few tiny losses.

Dimensions: 41.8 x 39 cm


The present album leaf is part of the
Huangchao Liqi Tushi
(The Illustrated Regulations for Ceremonial Paraphernalia of the Present Dynasty), an illustrated manuscript commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor. The main body of the work began to be compiled in 1750 and was completed in 1759. After editing and further expansion of the manuscript during the ensuing years, it was duplicated by the Palace Publications Office in the Wuying Palace in 1766 and was eventually added to the Siku Quanshu (Complete Library of the Four Treasuries) in 1773. Only seven copies of the manuscript were produced, stored in libraries across the empire, including the Wenyuan Pavilion library in the Summer Palace (Yuanming yuan), Beijing.


The Huangchai Liqi Tushi
was part of the Qianlong Emperor's effort from the beginning of his reign to regulate the ritual codes and procedures, and it serves as a record of his passion for a rigid ritualized life. The book consists of six parts - ceremonial vessels, scientific equipment, dress, musical instruments, insignia, and weaponry, containing more than 1,300 leaves of illustrations and explanatory texts. As one of the major imperial commissions, the book is of monumental scale and collaborative in nature. As many as twenty-seven court painters and calligraphers were working on the commission under five editors-in-chief, Yilu (1695-1767), Jiang Pu (1708-1761), Wang Youdun (1692-1758), Guanbao (d. 1776), and He Guozong (d. 1766).


The Qing dynasty Chaogua
was adapted from the dragon-patterned sleeveless coats worn unofficially at the Ming dynasty court. The mid-eighteenth century court dress edicts assigned three styles of this garment to the upper ranking court women. All were made of dark navy blue silk and featured a center front opening held with five toggle and loop fastenings, angled shoulder seams and deeply cut armholes. The first and second styles were tailored as multi-sectioned constructions with horizontal bands of dragons, clouds, and waves. The third style was full length without sections. A fourth style, which could be worn by all ranks of women including the wives of nobles not related to the imperial clan and the wives of other high officials featured mang, or four-clawed dragons. The chaogua painted on the present lot is of the first style, a full-length vest made of three sections - an upper part, a section from waist to knee, and a section from knee to hem with five horizontal bands embroidered with five-clawed dragons and auspicious symbols.


Literature comparison:

Compare an illustrated manuscript with 38 folios preserved, two leaves showing the front and back of a similar dragon vest, the leaves of closely related size (42 x 40 cm), dated to the Qianlong period, once in the Summer Palace and now in the British Library, number OR 9430. Compare a closely related page from the Huangchao Liqi Tushi illustrating the front and back of a dragon vest worn by imperial concubines of the first rank, 42.3 x 41.3 cm, dated to the Qianlong period, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number 856-1896.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 13 December 2017, lot 108
Price: EUR 47,500 or approx.
EUR 55,500
adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Six rare and important album leaves, Huangchao liqi Tushi, Qianlong period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related manner of painting, calligraphy, and size (42 x 41 cm), as well as the related dragon vest illustrated on the final page. Note this lot comprises six album leaves.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Related
Auction: Woolley & Walis, 12 November 2019, lot 6
Price: GBP 225,000 or approx.
EUR 345,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Album leaves from the imperial household regulations (Huang Chao Li Qi Tu Shi)
Expert remark: Compare the closely related manner of painting and calligraphy. Note this lot comprises twelve paintings. Note the closely related size (41 x 42.5 cm).




乾隆時期彩繪《皇太后皇后朝褂圖》，《皇朝禮器圖式》彩繪散頁


中國，1750-1759 年，絹本設色。一面繪有皇太后及皇后的朝褂，另一面寫有相關規定。朝褂繪製精美，深藍色地上，繪有六條金色五爪龍戲珠圖案，四周五彩祥雲靈芝，麗水紋。下擺和邊框以金線描繪，內襯紅緞。內部襯有紅色絲綢。


專家注釋：
這件可能與大英圖書館、蘇格蘭國家博物館、愛爾蘭國家博物館、維多利亞和阿爾伯特博物館以及 2019年11 月 12 日在 Woolley & Wallis 出售的冊頁來源相同。從維多利亞和阿爾伯特博物館收藏的兩頁手稿上可以看出，這些可能曾經是北京圓明園文淵閣圖保存的版本的一部分。


款識：
皇太后皇后朝褂圖；皇太后皇后朝褂謹按本朝定制；皇太后皇后朝褂色用石青片金緣綉文，前後立龍各二下，通襞積四層相間 ，上爲正龍各四下 ，下爲萬福萬壽 ，領後垂明黃縧，其飾珠寶惟宜，皇貴妃 皇太子妃皆同 。


來源：
法國古玩交易。

品相：
狀況極好，有輕微磨損、髒污、輕微摺痕、小缺損。

尺寸：41.8 x 39 厘米


本冊頁為乾隆皇帝下令撰寫的《皇朝禮器圖式》的一部分
。該書於 1750 年開始編撰，1759 年完成。經過隨後幾年的編輯和進一步擴充，於 1766 年由武英宮的書局複印，最終併入1773年《四庫全書》，僅存七本，存於各地圖書館，其中包括北京圓明園文淵閣圖書館。


《皇朝禮器圖式》是記載典章制度類器物的政書
，圖文並茂，分為6部分：祭器，儀器，冠服，樂器，鹵簿以及武備。每器皆列圖於右，系說於左。每件器物的詳細尺寸、質地、紋樣以及與相應官職品級的對照，無不條理清晰，記載詳備


《皇朝禮器圖式》是乾隆皇帝自即位以來規範禮儀規範和程序的一部分
，記錄了他對嚴格禮制生活的熱愛。全書由禮器、科學儀器、服飾、樂器、徽章、武器六部分組成，附有插圖和說明文字1300餘頁。該書規模宏大，共有二十七名宮廷書畫家參與，由允祿（1695-1767）、蔣溥（1708-1761）、汪由敦（1692-1758）和何國宗（1766 年逝世）主編。


文獻比較:

比較一件非常相近尺寸 (42 x 40 厘米)的乾隆時期手稿，保存有 38 對開頁，兩頁顯示類似龍紋背心的正面和背面，曾藏於圓明園，現藏於大英圖書館，編號OR 9430。比較一件非常相近乾隆時期《皇朝禮器圖式》其中一頁中，圖示一品妃所穿的龍背心正反面，42.3 x 41.3 厘米，收藏於維多利亞和阿爾伯特博物館，館藏編號856-1896。


拍賣比較：

形制：非常相近
拍賣：巴黎佳士得，2017年12月13日，lot 108
價格：EUR 47,500（相當今日
EUR 55,500
）
描述：清乾隆皇朝禮器圖式冊頁 一組六頁
專家註釋：比較非常相近繪畫風格、書法和尺寸 (42 x 41 厘米)，以及最後一頁有相近的龍紋背心。請注意此為一組六頁。


拍賣比較：

形制：相近
拍賣：Woolley & Walis，2019年11月12，lot 16
價格：GBP 225,000（相當今日
EUR 345,000
）
描述：一組十二頁繪畫《皇朝禮器圖式》
專家註釋：比較非常相近繪畫風格、書法。請注意此為一組十二頁繪畫，以及非常相近尺寸 (41 x 42.5 厘米)。