A VERY RARE PAIR OF IMPERIAL INSCRIBED CINNABAR LACQUER CARVED TEA BOWLS

Qianlong seal marks and of the period, the inscription dated Bingyin year, corresponding to 1746

Qianlong seal marks and of the period, the inscription dated Bingyin year, corresponding to 1746
Each vessel with deep rounded sides rising from a straight foot to a gently flaring rim, carved to the exterior through layers of cinnabar lacquer to a black diaper-pattern ground with an Imperial poem, 'Three-Purity Tea,' Sanqing Cha, dated to the Bingyin year (corresponding to 1746) followed by the seals Qian and Long, all between two borders of ruyi designs encircling the rim and foot, against matching leiwen grounds around the foot and rim, the red-lacquered base intaglio-carved with a six-character seal mark within a recessed square, the interior lacquered brown. Each 11cm (4 3/8in) diam. (2).

清乾隆 御製剔紅御題詩三清茶盌一對
「大清乾隆年製」、「乾隆丙寅小春御題」款 「乾」、「隆」印

Provenance:
Parry Collection, London, and thence by descent

來源：
倫敦Parry家族收藏，並由後人保存迄今

The present pair of tea bowls was part of a tea set used by the Qianlong Emperor at tea ceremonies held during New Year celebrations. The vessels are both inscribed with one of his favourite poems, Sanqing cha ('Three-Purity Tea'), which he wrote during the Bingyin year (1746), on the occasion of his 36th birthday while sipping tea in his studio on a cold winter's day. The poem refers to the tea made from plum blossoms, finger citron and pine nut kernels, which was offered to the Emperor during his visit to the sacred mountain Wutai. When brewed together in snow water, these three ingredients gave the tea a unique flavour and purity. The poem further describes the virtues of tea making and drinking, which reminded one of the Buddhist values of simplicity, austerity and purity.

As a consummate connoisseur, The Qianlong Emperor combined art and tea at intimate gatherings within the Palace walls. A party hosted by the Emperor was a remarkable experience, an aesthetic convergence of artwork and tea leaf. The Qianlong Emperor brewed and tasted tea using the finest objects in the Palace Collection, a great treasure of implements and wares dating back to the eleventh century. During a gathering, the talk flowed from the age and glaze of a tea vessel to the specific number of buds and leaves plucked for a particular tea. Brewed and served, the tea itself was appreciated for its hue, scent and flavour, prompting a new yet leisurely stream of comments and observations. On the occasion of the New Year celebrations, the Emperor held a tea-drinking banquet in the Palace of Cherished Glory, Chonghua Gong, in the Forbidden City, where he asked his guests to compose poetry, and as a token of his appreciation, he rewarded the best poet with a 'Sanqingcha' bowl.

The famous poem is recorded in the 'Anthology of Imperial Qianlong poems and prose' Qing gaozong yuzhi shiwen quanji, 'Imperial Poems' Yuzhi shiwen chuji, vol.1, chapter 36, p.17, and may be translated as:

The plum blossom in appearance not ostentatious,
The finger citron, scented and fresh,
Pine nuts of most fragrant aroma,
Three ingredients of outstanding purity.
An infusion is brewed in a shallow tripod vessel,
And the ingredients steeped in snow-water collected in a bamboo casket.
After coming to a boil, bubbles like the eyes of fish or crabs can be seen in the surface of the water,
Steam rises from the tripod appearing to alternate between Utpadanirodha birth and death.
Teacups from the kilns of Yue sprinkled with Immortals' milk,
The warmth of my yurt is agreeable to the joy of the mystic trance.
The five Buddhist Skanda purify the greater part of all things,
Spiritual awakening may occur but cannot be spoken of.
The sweet smelling ingredients are dealt with and suitably delivered,
Silky smooth the Immortals' wine, clear and limpid.
Wo Quan's offering may be eaten.
Lin Bu can admire the change of seasons.
Nonchalantly the Koan of the Zhaozhou monk may be uttered,
And the eccentricity of Yu Chuanzi laughed at heartily.
On a cold night in winter, listening to the sound of the water clock,
From the Guyue Studio I observe the moon, hanging in the sky like a jade archer's ring.
I take advantage of what remains to drink my fill,
And chant deliberately so that I might arise without exhaustion.
Composed by the Emperor in the tenth lunar month of the Bingyin year [corresponding to 1746] during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor.

The poem contains numerous literary and Buddhist allusions. The Manchu Imperial family were followers of the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism but much of the terminology used - to fit with Chinese poetic practice - relates to Chan Buddhism. Wo Quan was a mythical being who lived in the mountains, where he collected herbs for his own sustenance. He was particularly fond of pine nuts and was said to have presented some as a gift to the legendary Emperor Yao. Yao, however, did not eat them, and so missed out on their long life-giving properties. The Qianlong Emperor implies in the poem that, unlike the legendary Emperor Yao, he would not have hesitated.

Another reference in the poem is made to 'the Monk of Zhaozhou'. This was Congshen (778-897), a Tang dynasty Chan Buddhist monk. In Chan Buddhism, a koan is a question, story or statement which may appear contradictory but after greater meditation upon, can lead to enlightenment. The koan of the Monk of Zhaozhou refers to the following story: when two monks visited Congshen, he asked if they had visited this temple before. When the first said yes, Consghen invited him to drink tea; when the second said no, Congshen also invited him to drink tea. When asked by the head monk why he had asked this seemingly pointless question, Congshen also invited him to drink tea. The reference echoes the Qianlong Emperor's enlightened generosity in hosting tea parties with his ministers.

Compare with a very similar carved lacquer bowl, with the same poem, Qianlong seal mark and of the period, in the Qing Court Collection in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Emperor's Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City, New Haven and London, 2011, no.57. For a similar pair of lacquer bowls also carved with the Qianlong Emperor's poem Sanqing cha ('Three Purity Tea'), see a pair in the Tianjin Municipal Art Museum, illustrated in The Complete Series of Chinese Lacquer Zhongguo qiqi quanji, vol.6, Fuzhou, 1993, pl.211; and see another example in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, which is illustrated by H.Garner, Chinese Lacquer, London, 1979, pl.93.

Bowls inscribed with the Sanqing Cha poem were also produced in porcelain; see a blue and white bowl, Qianlong seal mark and of the period, illustrated in Special exhibition of K'ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch'ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch'ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, no.142; see also an iron-red example, Qianlong seal mark and of the period, also in the National Palace Museum, illustrated in Empty Vessels, Replenished Minds: the Culture, Practice, and Art of Tea, Taipei, 2002, no.129. Two further iron-red bowls, Qianlong seal mark and period, are illustrated in Late Chinese Imperial Porcelain, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1980, no.1.

See a single very similar lacquer tea bowl with the same poem, Qianlong seal mark and of the period, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 2 December 2015, lot 3163. See also a similar pair of Imperial inscribed cinnabar lacquer tea bowls, Qianlong mark and period, which were sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 7 April 2010, lot 1841.

盌圓形撇口，弧壁下斂，底承圈足。底心深刻「大清乾隆年製」六字三行篆書款。通體髹漆，外壁於深色回紋錦地上作剔紅雕刻，口沿下與近足處各飾如意云頭一周。腹身外壁雕乾隆御題詠三清茶五言詩，詩云：
「梅花色不妖，佛手香且潔。松實味芳腴，三品殊清絕。烹以折腳鐺，沃之承筐雪。火候辨魚蟹，鼎煙迭生滅。越甌潑仙乳。氈廬適禪悅。五蘊淨大半，可悟不可說。馥馥兜羅遞，活活雲槳澈。偓佺遺可餐，林逋賞時別。懶舉趙州案，頗笑玉川譎。寒宵聽行漏，古月看懸玦。軟飽趁幾餘，敲吟興無竭。」
後落「乾隆丙寅小春御題」年款，末尾刻「乾」、「隆」篆書圓、方二朱文鈐印各一枚。

《三清茶》詩為乾隆皇帝於乾隆十一年（1746）巡五台山，回程至定興遇雪，於氈帳中以雪水烹煮三清茶時所賦，原詩見於《乾隆御製詩初集》卷三十六。詩題後加註：「以雪水沃梅花、松實、佛手，啜之，名曰三清」；即表明三清茶是由梅花、佛手和松實三味組成，以乾淨雪水烹之。詩作完成後，乾隆皇帝即命人加於宮中器物之上，作為專門飲啜三清茶的茶盌。台北國立故宮博物院院藏瓷器品類有青花及礬紅兩種，其製作檔案可見於乾隆十一年（1746）七月《活計檔》；後所用材質並不限於瓷作，玉制和漆製品皆有傳世，且大小、造型、裝飾圖案以及款識等都基本一致。

乾隆皇帝喜愛三清茶，不僅因為其色、香、味清絕宜人，還可能因為「三清」各為清高節操之象徵，且品性特殊，以之淪茶，具有幽香而「不致溷茶葉」之效。自乾隆八年始，每年正月初二至初十之間，都擇日於重華宮舉辦「三清茶宴」，是以新正仍於此慶歲，命子皇帝及廷臣等依例茶宴聯句。乾隆皇帝還常將三清茶具賞賜與宴大臣，以示恩典。

乾隆皇帝篤信藏傳佛教，但為貼合漢文語境，其《三清茶》一詩中所援引的諸多文學及佛教典故多與禪宗相關。如「偓佺」一詞，典出漢劉向《列仙傳》：「偓佺者，槐山採藥父也，好食松實，形體生毛，長數寸，兩目更方，能飛行逐走馬。以鬆子遺堯，堯不暇服也。松者，簡松也。時人受服者，皆至二三百歲焉」。 乾隆皇帝自詡其與傳說中的堯帝不同，不會拒絕服用可得長壽的松子。

又如「趙州案」意指唐代趙州觀音寺高僧從諗禪師（778-897）以茶為機鋒語之禪宗公案。《五燈會元》載曰：
趙州問僧：「曾到此間麼？」曰「到。」州雲：「喫茶去。」又問一僧：「曾到此間麼？」雲：「不曾到。」州雲：「喫茶去。」院主問曰：「為甚麼到也雲喫茶，不曾到也雲喫茶？」州召院主，主應諾，州雲：「喫茶去。」
乾隆皇帝以三清茶宴請廷臣，與從諗禪師以「喫茶去」作為佛門直指人心的開示相呼應。

北京故宮博物館館藏一例清宮舊藏清乾隆剔紅御題詩三清茶盌，「大清乾隆年製」篆書款，極似本例，收錄於《The Emperor's Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City》，紐黑文，倫敦，2011年，編號57。另見天津藝術博物館藏相類三清茶詩成對，收錄於《中國漆器全集》，卷六，福州，1993年，圖版211；以及倫敦維多利亞和阿爾伯特博物館館藏一例，收錄於H.Garner著，《Chinese Lacquer》，倫敦，1979年，圖版93。

乾隆瓷作之三清茶詩茶盌，則可見台北國立故宮博物院館藏青花及礬紅兩例，分別收錄於《清康雍乾名瓷》，台北，1986年，編號142；以及《也可以清心——茶器、茶事、茶畫》，台北，2002年，編號129。另有澳洲新南威爾士州美術館藏兩例清乾隆描紅御製詩三清茶詩茶盌，見《Late Chinese Imperial Porcelain》，悉尼，1980年，編號1。

參考香港佳士得於2015年12月2日售出一例清乾隆剔紅御製三清詩茶盌，拍品編號3163，以及香港蘇富比售出一對，2010年4月7日，拍品編號1841，可資比照。