LACQUER
0126 When Charles Canning (Governor-General of India during the Indian Mutiny) died in 1862, his ‘Indian Collection’ was auctioned through Messrs. Christie, Manson, and Woods. One item was reported to have come from the Summer Palace:
‘EARL CANNING’S INDIAN COLLECTION. SECOND DAY’S SALE (Yesterday). By the order of his lordship’s executors, at Messrs. Christie, Manson, and Woods ... A cabinet of red lacquer, elaborately carved with dragons and other figures, on stand, from the Summer Palace, and a cabinet of inlaid woods, with six drawers and folding doors.’ (18 March 1863, Morning Post, p. 3.)
中文:
Messrs. Christie, Manson, and Woods, 拍卖 的 第二 天
伯爵 甘宁 的 印度 收藏 品 在 出自圆明园 的 朱 漆 柜 ，雕刻着 龙 和 其他 图画 , 在支架上。
1863年3月1日， 早报
张小蕾和凯特 · 希尔（Kate Hill）
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0055 The following eight items were included in the catalogue of Capitaine Negroni’s collection of spoils from the Yuanmingyuan, exhibited at the Crystal Palace in 1865:
p. 41
378. A magnificent cabinet in red Pekin lacker. The top is completely covered with fantastic dragons surrounded by the Greek or Ming border. On the sides are various domestic scenes and landscapes, all the figures introduced being carved in jade. The handles and clips are of very fine workmanship. It belonged to one of the first Emperors of the Ming dynasty, and is a remarkably fine specimen of this work, the secret of which has for centuries been in the possession of only one family.
379. A delicately ornamented coffer of the same description, on the top of which are the imperial dragons, surrounded by a double Ming border; the space between being filled up with a beautiful wreath of flowers. The sides have the same ornamentation, only the Ming rose replaces the dragons.
p. 42
383. A square tea-caddy in Chinese lacker.
384. An elaborately ornamented box in Chinese lacker.
385. A fan box in Chinese lacker, containing a most beautiful fan.
388. A box with compartments in Japan lacker.
389. A fan in chinese lacker.
391. A round box in Pekin lacker.
See Catalogue of Captain de Negroni's Collection of Porcelain, Jade, Jewels, Silks, Furs, Stones, &c., from Yuen-Min-Yuen, (The Summer Palace) Pekin, London: McCorquodale & Co. 1865, pp. 41–42.) The collection was sold through Messrs. Foster in June 1866. (16 June 1866, Birmingham Gazette, p. 4.)
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0124 On 8 April 2007, Sotheby’s Hong Kong sold a carved red lacquer box with Qianlong mark containing seven jade archer’s rings, which had purportedly been taken from the Yuanmingyuan and descended through a French family during the 19th century, according to the lot notes. (See Sotheby’s, By Heavenly Mandate: Important Historical Works of Art of the Qianlong Reign, 8 April 2007, lot 602, online at www.sothebys.com.)
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0115 A storage box in the collections of the National Museums of Scotland is given Summer Palace provenance on the NMS website. The box is of red lacquer carved with figures of the eight Daoist Immortals, a shou character and swastika. It is dated to the Qing Dynasty. (Museum reference: A.1928.788)
May be viewed online at: http://www.nms.ac.uk/explore/search-our-collections/. Search by the museum reference number above.
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All material on this page, unless otherwise credited, was produced by Kate Hill, who asserts her authorship of the work. © Kate Hill, Yuanmingyuan Artefact Index, 2016.