A royal blue 18th century Chinese vase, adorned with gold and silver, had been in the English kitchen for several years, but after the historian realized that it belonged to the emperor, it was about at the auction. Sold for $ 1.8 million.
However, according to experts who were not involved in the sale, the unclear history of vases, coupled with the looting of Chinese palaces in the 19th century, raises ethical concerns.
The vase is large, about 2 feet (0.6 meters) high, and bears the symbol associated with Qianlong Emperor, the sixth emperor of the Qing dynasty who ruled China from 1735 to 1795.To statement It was released by Dreweatts, an auction company that sold vases on May 18. The vase is painted in a color called “sacrificial blue”. The name comes from the fact that the same shades decorate part of Beijing’s heavenly platform. In this temple, the Chinese emperor sacrificed animals in the hope that these sacrifices would ensure a good harvest.
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The vase decoration is made of a mixture of silver and gold, with clouds, cranes, folding fans, whistles, Bat —Mark Newstead, a consultant specializing in Asian Ceramics and Drew Eats works of art, said: YouTube video (Opens in a new tab)..
The combination of silver and gold used in this vase is “technically very difficult to achieve, making it special and unusual,” Newsted said, an imperial overseer. A man named Tang Ying (1682-1756) pointed out. A porcelain factory in the eastern city of Jingdezhen may be known for the creation of the technique used in this vase.
The vase was most likely placed in the forbidden palace where the Chinese emperor lived, or in one of the emperor’s other palaces, Newsted said.
During the reign of Qianlong Emperor, the government had to put down many rebellions. Despite this anxiety, art flourished in China, and historian Richard Smith wrote in the book.Qing dynasty and traditional Chinese culture (Opens in a new tab)“(Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2015). In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the political situation deteriorated as China lost wars with Europe and the United States and foreign troops plundered many palace.
Uncertain origin
The history of this vase is unknown. The vase was owned by a surgeon who “we believe we bought it in the early 1980s,” Newsted told Live Science by email.The surgeon said, “I was a buyer at the national sales floor. [English] That’s all we know about Midland since the 1970s. ” After the surgeon died, the vase was handed over to his son. Neither the surgeon nor his son realized the true value, and the vase was placed in his son’s kitchen. After a while, Newsted first saw it in the late 1990s.
The origin of the vase is unknown, and the history of foreign troops plundering the palace in the 19th century raises ethical concerns that vase was plundered by foreign troops in the 19th or early 20th century, experts say Live Science. Told to.
“It could have been a gift from the emperor to one of his officials, and that official’s family would have been able to sell it on the open market in the 20th century when they were in a difficult economic situation. From there it could have been sold more, or it could be the product of a military plunder in 1860 or 1901, and the auction would be far more morally suspicious. ” Jacobs has extensively studied and written about the looting of Chinese art from the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century.
“not sure [how the vase left China] Perhaps we will never do that. “
Originally published on Live Science.
Vases in the English kitchen turned out to be a treasure of the Qing dynasty.
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