Lot 205
A Finely Enamelled Yellow Ground Famille Rose Buddhist Stupa, Qing Dynasty
Lot 205 Details
A Finely Enamelled Yellow Ground Famille Rose Buddhist Stupa, Qing Dynasty
清 黃地琺瑯彩瓷藏式佛塔
The shrine is superbly modelled and enamelled against a brilliant yellow ground with stylised lotus blooms borne on multi-hued vines issuing smaller flowers below monster masks linked by pendant beaded chains, surmounted by a lotus-lappet pedestal supporting a set of 13 graduated Buddhist umbrellas, each tier with a narrow floral band, set atop a skirted cap with a ribboned Buddhist emblem of the vase, the stupa supported on a square base decorated with bands of lappets and floral scrolls on a green ground
height 17.4" — 44.2 cm.
Estimate $4,000-$6,000
Provenance:
From an important Canadian collection
Note:
A stupa refers to Buddhist commemorative monuments, usually housing sacred relics associated with the Buddha or related saints. For the convenience of traveling and private devotion, portable models of stupas made of bronze became a standard ritual object for practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism. In the first-half of the 18th Century, the imperial Chinese kilns started to mimic other mediums, such as bronze, wood, and hardstone, through the use of porcelain to showcase their mastery of their skill. This idea achieved its zenith under Emperor Qianlong's reign (1736-1795). As an enthusiastic Buddhist follower and a porcelain devotee, Emperor Qianlong combined his passions by reproducing Tibetan ritual objects through porcelain. This trend continued until the end of the Qing Dynasty. Despite being a later example, the current stupa is important amongst this category because it continued the tradition of porcelain Buddhist ritual objects. It also showcases the expertise of the craftsman because the stupa had to be fired in four separate sections. Sophisticated factors such as clay expansion and glaze shrinkage had to be considered. For a similar porcelain stupa from the late Qing Dynasty, see Tranthy Beijing, December 16, 2012, lot 238. Another from the James White collection was sold in Poly Beijing, June 5, 2013, lot 6158. Both were documented in Atouch 2013 auction reference booklet, page 682-683. For yellow ground penba hu, see Bonhams London, November 6, 2008, lot 9.