A VERY RARE GILT-DECORATED BLACK-LACQUERED PANEL AND CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER FRAME FOR THE IMPERIAL COURTLate 18th centuryThe black lacquer panel exquisitely decorated in gilt with a mountainous landscape dotted with pavilions, some of the roofs decorated in the kirikane technique, all amidst various trees, and a waterfall on the right from which a boisterous river with swirling currents curves across, some gnarled rocks slightly raised in the takamaki-e technique, all framed by a carved cinnabar lacquer frame with lotus scrolls, an ornate metal hook ontop. 96cm (37 3/4in) wide x 88cm (34 1/2in) high.Footnotes:十八世紀晚期 御用剔紅邊框鑲黑漆描金風景紋屏Provenance: Vanderven Oriental Art, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands; acquired at TEFAF, Maastricht 來源： 於馬斯特里赫特歐洲藝術和古董博覽會，購自荷蘭斯海爾托亨博思古董商Vanderven Oriental ArtThe present panel is exceptionally rare and demonstrates the fascination of the Qing Court with foreign representations as well as its admiration of the technical virtuosity of lacquering techniques and decoration imported from or influenced by Japan. The lavish use of gold on black lacquer became particularly popular during the reign of the Yongzheng emperor, who especially appreciated and collected Japanese gold and silvered lacquer (maki-e). During the Yongzheng reign, Japanese lacquer was presented to the Imperial Court by Sui Hede, Gao Qizhuo and Zhun Tai, the Jiangnan silk manufacturing agent, the Suzhou Imperial inspector and the Superintendent of the Fujian customs house respectively. See Yuancang riben qiqi tezhan, Taipei, 2002, p.19. Yongzheng's appreciation for Japanese lacquer can be seen for example, in the 'Twelve Beauties at Leisure' painted for Prince Yinzhen (the Future Yongzheng emperor), in which one painting shows a woman with a Japanese style black lacquered box with gilt decorated bamboo, illustrated by E.Rawski and J.Rawson, China: The Three Emperors 1662-1795, London, 2005, p.259. Japanese boxes were particularly highly regarded at Court where they were used to store precious objects and antiques; see for example a Japanese lacquer box in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Small Refined Articles of the Study, Shenzhen, 2009, pp.8-9, no.4. Chinese artisans also imitated Japanese lacquer pieces. See for example, a handled case with gold-painted landscape in the same raised technique, in imitation of a Japanese case, mid Qing dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Lacquer Wares of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 2006, p.192, no.144.The black lacquer panel in the present lot was probably made in Japan; takamaki-e techniques of slightly raised gold-leaf as can be seen on the rocks of the present lot, was used in Japan, and the landscape scene itself appears to have its origins in Japanese designs. See for example, a Japanese black lacquer and gilt-decorated cabinet (one of a pair), at the Qing Court Collection, with a very similar landscape but with a party of people in Edo period dress, illustrated in The Emperor's Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City, New Haven and London, 2010, p.178, pl.54. The same cabinet is also illustrated in A Lofty retreat from the Red Dust: The Secret Garden of Emperor Qianlong, Beijing, 2012, nos.44 and 45, where it is described as Qianlong. The cinnabar lacquer frame on the present lot, however, is demonstrably Chinese. See for example a related black lacquer and mother-of-pearl-inlaid panel with cinnabar lacquer frame, Yongzheng/Qianlong, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, vol.2, Hong Kong, 2002, p.207, no.179.Despite the lack of official diplomatic ties between Qing China and Tokugawa Japan in the 18th century, Sino-Japanese trade was maintained sustainably, either through Chinese traders in Nagasaki or European intermediaries; see Hao Peng, Trade Relations between Qing China and Tokugawa Japan, 1685-1859, Singapore, 2019. Government sponsored and private merchant ships bound for Japan were often dispatched from Nanjing, Ningbo, Taiwan, Xiamen, and Guangdong. Private operations run by family businesses required strong government connections and sound financial backing. Official records of the 18th century reveal that in 1693 the Suzhou silk agent Li Xu presented ten items of Japanese lacquer to the Court. In this way, Japanese lacquer could enter the Qing Court, where it was highly prized as demonstrated in its use to contain precious works of art.Compare the landscape of the present lot with the landscape on a black lacquer and gilt-decorated cabinet in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (acc.no.gu.qi07.00.000392), and also a black lacquer box and cover, also in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, (acc.no.guqi07.11.000376).See a related black lacquer panel with cinnabar lacquer frame, late Qing dynasty, which was sold at Christie's London, 9 December 1991, lot 61.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
