FINE AND LARGE PAIR OF CHINESE CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL CIRCULAR PLAQUES
QING DYNASTY, 19TH CENTURY
£6,300
Auction: 16 May 2025 from 09:00 BST
Description
清 銅胎掐絲琺瑯花鳥紋大圓屏 鏡框（一對）
each decorated in mirror image with flowering branches issuing from a wavy and grassy ground with rockwork, the luscious foliage and floral with birds and butterflies in flight, framed (2)
Dimensions
diameters: 39.3cm and 39.1cm
Provenance
Private Scottish collection, Edinburgh, acquired at this saleroom, 21 March 2007, lot 75;
Previously in an important private Scottish collection in Glasgow, purchased from Redburn Antiques, 49 Brook Street, London, 1972.
Back of the plaques each bears a label, in French ‘Fabrique d'Emaux Cloisonne de Teuo-Tcheng. La seule et veritable fabrique d'emaux cloisonnes de Teuo-Tcheng se trouve a Peking en dehors de la porte Tsien-men vers le milieu de la rue Yan-mei-tchou-sie-kiai (cote nord)’, and in Chinese.
蘇格蘭私人收藏，愛丁堡，2007年3月21日購自本拍行，拍品75；
前顯赫蘇格蘭私人收藏，格拉斯哥，於1972年購自位於倫敦布魯克街49號的骨董藝廊Redburn Antiques；
屏背各貼中法文長方籤，中文款識「德成琺瑯局。今有無恥之輩假充德成字號然本號有票賜顧客詳認住京都前門外楊梅竹斜街中間路北便是」。
Footnote
Decheng workshop (德成) or Decheng Manufactory (德成琺瑯局), with its Quanxingcheng factory (全興成), was established in 1860, likely at the end of the Second Opium War, and had to close around 1935. Its founder and owner, Jia Derun (賈德潤, 1840–1900), courtesy name Yuhua 玉華, hailed from the present-day province of Shandong. Coming from a peasant family, Jia Derun completed his education and established his workshop, reviving cloisonné during the Xianfeng period. Initially, the workshop crafted mandarin insignias or buttons and gold-plated objects. Later, it repaired cloisonné items and eventually started producing its own cloisonné wares. See more details in Parada López de Corselas, Manuel. “Decheng, Beitang and Tushanwan Cloisonné Workshops: A New Contribution on Chinese Christian Art.” Religions 15, no. 1 (2024): 57. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010057
Decheng was also the first cloisonné workshop in Beijing whose participation in a World Exhibition is documented, specifically at the 1878 Paris World Exposition. See Zhou, Chunbing, 2022. Bureau of Enamel: Research and Collection of Famous Cloisonné Workshops in Modern China (珐琅局: 中国近代景 泰蓝名作坊研究與收藏). Shanghai Shi: Shanghai Wen Hua Chu Ban She, 2022, pp. 57–62. Therefore, it explains the two labels on the back of these panels, written in Chinese and French, gives the address of the Decheng Manufactory and warns against imitations: ‘The only true manufactory, Teuo-Tcheng, is located in Beijing outside the Tsien-men gate near the middle of the Yan-mei-tchou-sie-kiai road (north side).’ This suggests considerable concern about quality and forgeries and was meant to authenticate the object’s origin.
A comparable pair of cloisonne enamel decorative tondo, dated to the Qing dynasty, 19th century, slightly larger (45.3cm diameter), also in mirror images, note the similarity of the quality and decorations, are in the National Museum in Warsaw, inventory numbers: SKAZsz 701/1 MNW and SKAZsz 701/2 MNW.
德成或德成琺瑯局，及其工廠全興成，創立於1860年，或正值第二次鴉片戰爭結束之際，並於1935年間停業。其創始人及所有者賈德潤（1840–1900），字玉華，來自山東省。賈德潤出身農家，完成學業後創立作坊，並於咸豐年間復興掐絲琺瑯工藝。初期，其作坊製作官階補服上的補子、鈕扣及鎏金器物，後來開始修復琺瑯器，最終發展為製作精良掐絲琺瑯器物之高級作坊。細節參閱 Parada López de Corselas, Manuel. “Decheng, Beitang and Tushanwan Cloisonné Workshops: A New Contribution on Chinese Christian Art.” Religions 15, no. 1 (2024): 57. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010057
德成亦是北京首間有記載參加世界博覽會的掐絲琺瑯作坊，曾於1878年巴黎世界博覽會展出。（參周春冰著：2022，《琺瑯局：中國近代景泰藍名作坊研究與收藏》，上海：上海文化出版社，2022年，頁57–62）因此，這也說明了此拍品圓屏背貼長方籤爲何書以中文和法文提供了德成琺瑯局的地址，並警告仿冒品的存在。這顯示出當時德成對其製作的器物品質之要求，亦意在證明該器物的來源屬實。
參一對清十九世紀銅胎掐絲琺瑯圓屏近例，尺寸稍大（直徑45.3cm），亦施以鏡像花鳥紋，紋飾及構圖類似，藏於華沙國家博物館，館藏號「SKAZsz 701/1 MNW」及「SKAZsz 701/2 MNW」，可資比較。