AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE IMPERIAL INSCRIBED TWO-COLOUR CINNABAR LACQUER CARVED BRUSHPOT, BITONG

Qianlong seal mark and of the period

Qianlong seal mark and of the period
Expertly carved around the exterior in relief with an Imperial poem in kaishu script titled Xiao yuan xian yong wu shou ('Five verses from the small leisure orchard') in red, on a black square diaper-pattern ground, the rounded rim carved with a zigzag floral design, all supported on a stepped base decorated with black floral honeycomb diaper-ground, raised on five ruyi-shaped carved red lacquer framed feet, the interior and base black lacquered. 12.2cm (4 3/4in) high.

清乾隆 御製剔紅「小園閒詠五首」御題詩筆筒
「乾隆御製」款 「乾」「隆」印

Provenance:
Spink & Son Ltd., London
Mrs G. N. Parry (1923-2013), London, acquired from the above on 29 April 1961, and thence by descent

來源：
倫敦古董商Spink & Son Ltd.
倫敦G. N. Parry夫人（1923-2013）舊藏，於1961年4月29日購自上者，並由後人保存迄今

Finely carved lacquer brushpots with Imperial poems carved in elegant kaishu script, such as the present example, are very rare, but two examples from the Qing Court Collection, in the Palace Museum, Beijing have been published. The first brushpot, nearly identical to the present lot, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Lacquer Wares of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 2006, pl.32. The second example is illustrated in 200 Objects You Should Know: Carved Lacquer Ware, Beijing, 2008, pl.162. A third example, a closely-related but slightly smaller carved two-colour lacquer brushpot with the same poem, Qianlong seal mark and period, is illustrated by S.Marsh, Brushpots: A Collector's View, Barcelona, 2020, p.80.

Only one other very similar example appears to have been sold at auction. Compare with a carved cinnabar lacquer brushpot, with the same poem, Qianlong seal mark and of the period, but with a red colour foot and no key-fret border, which was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 10 April 2006, lot 1526.

All the brushpots mentioned above have subtle variations in their design. It has been suggested that these differences are due to having been produced over a period of time; see S.Marsh, ibid.,, p.80. However, only the present lot has the exquisite carving on the mouth rim of a zigzag diaper-pattern, while sharing with one of the two Beijing Palace Museum brushpots the same colour and shaped foot.

The poem adorning the present brushpot, entitled 'Five verses from the small leisure orchard' Xiao Yuan Yong Wu shou, was composed by the Qianlong Emperor himself and is recorded in the Anthology of Qianlong Poems Qing Gaozong Yushi Wen Quanji. Le Shan Tang Ding Ben, chapter 27, p.5, which may be translated as:

'Five Verses from the small leisure orchard'

1

In the autumn lake the fish timidly near the bait, such are the affairs of rod and hook. Above the green waters a bamboo rod, a clear breeze rustles the collar of the palm-bark rain cape. The grassy reeds of the outskirt, among the moon and stars. Returning home along in the still night, along the mossy clear path.

2

Taking the pine as my home, seeing home where the crane guards the gate. Knowing people and visiting guests, deserve fine grain from the paddies. The ancient spirit of the moon staying the night, the combing breeze through manifold feathers. Up to now, fine servant boys, need not be expensive and lofty.

3

How much do you understand the colours of autumn? the reeds and flowers are all now white. The battling wind shakes the moorside at sunset, drinking the dew on the cold isle. Life and vitality knows to be thankful, and not willing to stop anytime. In the vast smoky water, it is best to go by a flat boat.

4

The pavilion across the river, connected by a bridge. Old autumn with jaded white sky, the red maples in the cold current. Rolling curtains of willow to the night moon, walking in the wind and frost. How I love this path, crossing the water east.

5

Of the flowers and trees of the four seasons, my favourite in the garden is the plum blossom. Refusing to yield to the snow, in the breeze several flowers have blossomed. The pure fragrance wafts to the bones, cold and moist with icy cheeks. Alone, the secluded person can appreciate it, inspecting the branches.

The poems were written by Prince Hongli, before he became the Qianlong Emperor, and were originally published in the Yuzhi Leshan Tang Quanji. The Leshan Tang was within the Palace where the Qianlong Emperor lived as a Prince, and these poems were published in the second year of his reign. It could be said that the Qianlong Emperor was nostalgic about his earlier time in this palace before he became Emperor, and so wanted brushpots carved with this particular poem. We enter the private realm of the Qianlong Emperor - firstly, through the poem, in his small garden rather than on an ostentatious grand tour, and secondly, through the brushpot, with him seated at his scholar's desk.

Although brushpots with calligraphy can be found from earlier reigns, such as the Kangxi period, it was only during the Qianlong period that a brushpot is decorated with the Emperor's own poem. This can be taken as a sign of the Qianlong Emperor's confidence in poetry and classical Chinese literature and furtherance of his image as an accomplished scholar. Indeed, the Qianlong Emperor was a prolific poet and composed thousands of poems that, taken together, construct an image of the Emperor as a wise, erudite yet sensitive ruler. As a Manchu, he was still very much conscious of his perceived 'foreignness' by the Han Chinese elite. His sensitivity to the issue resulted in both a sorcery scare in 1768: a hunt for perceived sorcerers cutting off the Manchu prescribed queues, and literary inquisitions that sought to censor and destroy any text that he considered insulting to the Manchu. See P.A.Kuhn, The Chinese Sorcery Scare of 1768, New Haven, 2009. The Qianlong Emperor's concerns however, had a positive side too, propelling him to forge an identity, given that he was not entirely Han Chinese, to became the custodian, protector and benefactor of that culture. As such, the Qianlong Emperor aimed to show himself as worthy of any educated Han Chinese literatus: learned in the classics and the arts of painting and calligraphy. He therefore surrounded himself with the accoutrements of the scholar, such as brushpots, embellished with his own poems in fine calligraphy.

In this series of poems carved on the present brushpot, the description of beautiful scenery and nature parallels the harmony and beauty of a world under his dynasty's rule. Brushpots with these poems, such as the present lot, would instill in the writer the erudition of the Emperor, and similar poems were inscribed on other brushpots in different mediums. See for example, the same poem on an underglaze red and white brushpot, Qianlong, illustrated in Sun Yingzhou de taoci shijie, Beijing, 2003, p.262, no.161.

圓口直筒，筒身微斂，筒內髹黑漆，口沿飾紅邊，底部剔紅鐫出回紋一匝，下承四足錦地基座。器身外壁於深色回紋錦地上作剔紅雕刻乾隆帝御題詩文五首，行文流暢，字體工整。後落「乾隆御製」款識，末尾刻「乾」、「隆」篆書朱文鈐印兩方。形制經典，施漆純正，色澤華美，極具把玩性。

乾隆一朝，雕漆工藝登峰造極，所產雕漆品數量龐大，種類繁多，但純以詩文為主題的器物極為有限。蓋因此等器物如茶盌、筆筒等體積小巧、局限很大，且剔雕字體要遷就方向多變的筆劃，也要顧及工整性及行間間隔，製作難度之高，不言而喻。

剔紅乾隆御製詩筆筒極為珍罕，北京故宮館藏清宮舊藏兩例，其一與本例幾乎如出一轍，圖可見於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集：清代漆器》，香港，2006年，編號32；另一例收錄於《你應該知道的200件雕漆》，北京，2008年，圖版162。另一近例可參S.Marsh著，《筆筒淵鑑：收藏家的隨心所悟》，巴塞羅那，2020年，頁80，剔雕相同詩文但尺寸稍小。香港蘇富比曾於2006年4月10日售出一例清乾隆御製剔紅「小園閒詠五首」御題詩筆筒，拍品編號1526，形制亦與本例相仿。

如S.Marsh書中所述，以上筆筒無論尺寸大小還是底部基座均稍有不同，或許是因為在較長的一段時間里分批製作，因而式樣有所偏頗。漆器製作要待每一層薄漆乾了之後才可以再上另一層，經無數層上漆工序方可完成，也因此耗時甚久，異常名貴。而已知數例中僅本例口沿以剔紅鐫出幾何之字形紋，且底座式樣與北京故宮中之一例完全相同。

外壁剔雕詩文內容為乾隆帝御題詩文《小園閒詠五首》，詩云：

「秋湖魚怯餌，把釣事如何。綠水一竿竹，清風幾領簑。蒹葭塵外老，星月箇中多。夜靜獨歸去，清光掛女蘿。

結社松為宅，看家鶴守門。偏知人客至，不負稻粱恩。宿月精神古，梳風毛羽繁。由來好僮僕，不必貴乘軒。

秋色知多少，蘆花盡白頭。戰風搖夕浦，飲露亞寒洲。生意知將謝，隨時未肯休。蒼茫煙水里，好去弄扁舟。

隔溪亭子迥，為架板橋通。秋老碧天白，寒流楓葉紅。捲簾吟夜月，著屐步霜風。愛此雙雙跡，扶笻過水東。

四時花木足，最喜是園梅。傲雪三冬裡，因風幾朵開。清香流玉骨，冷潤滴氷腮。獨有幽人賞，巡簷杖策來。」

出自乾隆登基前詩作《小園閒詠十五首》，宮廷畫家唐岱曾根據詩意做《小園閒詠十五首詩意圖冊》。 《小園閒詠》錄自《御製樂善堂全集》，樂善堂是乾隆皇帝登基前之潛邸。或許可以推測，乾隆皇帝懷念其作為皇子居於樂善堂的時光，因此想要將詩文鐫刻在筆筒之上。而通過其於幽靜小園中吟成的詩作，以及其於書齋桌前曾經把玩的筆筒，這也讓我們得以一窺乾隆皇帝的精神私域。

雖然康熙時期已多見以詩詞裝飾筆筒的先例，但主題為御題詩文的僅見於乾隆一朝。乾隆皇帝自幼熟讀儒家經典，受漢文化影響極深，一生留下四萬餘首御製詩，成為中國歷史上最為多產的詩人，更使其形象符合儒家價值體系下「內聖外王」的至高精神。作為一名能夠管理龐大中國的異族統治者，面對人口多出約五十倍的多數民族，他也時刻對於漢族精英階層的弦外之音保持警惕並充滿戒心；甚至曾為民間叫魂巫術的傳言寢食難安，並不斷發出諭旨指揮全國性的搜捕，清剿「妖黨」，見孔飛力著，《叫魂：1768年中國妖術大恐慌》，紐黑文，2009年。這種擔憂使得乾隆皇帝愈發需要作為中國皇帝和儒家聖賢的身份認同；而通過對漢文化傳統的守護、資助與傳承，其為自身塑造的形像不遜於歷史上任何一位飽讀詩書、學富五車的漢族文人精英。由此，乾隆皇帝將自己與文人用器緊密聯繫起來，譬如此例以精美字體鐫刻著御製詩文的文房用器——筆筒。

同一御用題材在不同媒材上的表現亦有範例，例如北京故宮博物院館藏一例清乾隆礬紅御製詩「小園閒詠五首」筆筒，收錄於《孫瀛洲的陶瓷世界》，北京，2003年，頁262，編號161。