Dr. Robert I-San Lin's Collection of Important Chinese Artworks
A very rare, beautiful, and meticulously decorated mid Qing Dynasty yellow ground vase with cover. This beautiful, slender, and elaborately decorated vase is unique and very rare. While its shape resembles some Guan Yin Zwen of kangxi and Yongzheng periods (see e.g., Gen Bao Chan's Identification of Ming and Qing Porcelains, Qing Section, p.17, 18, 20, 72), this vase is more slender and has more beautiful and graceful surface curvatures then that of the previous periods. The main motif is mother and son enjoying the blossoming spring in a garden, reserved in an elaborately decorated yellow ground. Similar motifs had continuously been used since mid Qing until mid twentieth century, but the later imitations are coarse in body material, glaze, enamel, and painting. The decoration is done painstakingly in Qianlong style. The yellow ground is filled with a pattern of interconnecting branches foreign flowers ("yang hua'), which are painted with yellow, blue, light green, dark green, black, and a gold-containing carmine enamels. The pattern is made with needle incision to form the outlines first, which is then filled in with black enamel. Finally, the space within the outlines are filled with various colored enamels. Red bat (Hong fu, meaning great luck), shou (longevity), and Buddhist lotus disperse among the foreign flowers. The face of the mother and the son are carefully washed in with a reddish brown enamel, from intense to very light reddish brown, making an animate and stereo appearance. This type of detailed workmanship existed primarily during Qianlong reign. The surface of the yellow glaze and of the enamels are fine and smooth, distinguishing from common glazes and enamels of late Qing, which are often coarse. The most unique feature of this vase is its very broad and gracefully curved foot rim tip, like surface of a gentle wave. This is in stark contrast to the common late Qing foot rim, which is usually in a sharp wedge shape. The outer base has a 4-word Qianlong mark in iron red. H 31.3cm.
(Collection of Dr. Robert I-San Lin of California)
清中期洋彩黃錦上添花地婦嬰遊園圖獸紐蓋尊。形極工整修長、𤧟𤧟玉立、曲線流暢美麗。胎細白、厚薄輕重恰好。迎光自內向外看可見胎稍透光、因胎細且瓷化度高、是當時高等瓷。透明釉甚細潤。做地的黃釉極勻稱、稍厚、淨潔、釉面細潤、迎光側視可見微弱蛤蜊光。這些特徵在乾隆晚年到道光中期黃釉中常見、與晚清民國的黃釉釉面粗糙或不勻大不同。黃釉地上錦上添花飾以紅蝠（洪福）、壽及佛花為主、並加以簡單化的卷枝紋。所有黃地上的紋飾都以細針先劃輪廓、再畫黑線、然後填不同彩色於廓內。填彩極工整細緻、滿廓而不出廓。頗費繪師高匠的心思工本。這種極細緻的工藝通常只在乾隆瓷見到。部份花葉以胭脂紅、綠、藍及黑等彩填繪成，使黃地滿目琳琅。兩開光內各畫母子遊園景。其中一景母髙髻着紅袍飄帶、手持一圓扇、𢹂子暢遊春滿的花園、園中桃花盛開蝴蝶飛飄。母子的眼眉鼻口髮絲都細膩繪出、臉部更以淡赭彩仔細渲染、使面孔有明暗深淺立體感。另一光內繪母倚桌而坐、凝視其子戲鼓。桌上有一疊書、桌後一叢盛䦕的桃花樹。筆觸線條流𣈱、畫面疏密有致、是繪瓷高手的傑作。這種母子遊園畫面常在清末及民國時用來飾瓶，但晚清民國作品筆劃粗陋，許多細節都偷工減料、不可相比。較特殊的是此尊不只是修長可愛、而且圈足極特殊、圈足端極寬大、呈大淺弧形、向邊週則弧度較淺、而向內心則弧度急劇。足端裡外兩條胎釉交界線切得極工整利落、在清瓷中極少見到。康雍乾瓷的足端多呈較細窄的弧形，晚清瓷的足端多切成尖楔形。外底心有"乾隆年製"礬紅二行楷款、外加雙框。髙31.3cm.（加州林亦森博士珍藏，1960年代由台北帶來美國）