ANONYMOUS COURT PAINTER (QIANLONG

ANONYMOUS COURT PAINTER (QIANLONG, DATED 1750-59)

ALBUM LEAVES FROM THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD REGULATIONS

Twelve rare Chinese paintings, all with inscriptions from the Huang Chao Li Qi Tu Shi (The Illustrated Regulations for Ceremonial Paraphernalia of the Present Dynasty), ink, colour and gilt on silk, eight of the double pages bear an explanatory text about the object on the right page, 41cm x 42.5cm. (10)

Provenance: by repute, from the Imperial Library of the Old Summer Palace, Beijing, acquired in 1860 by Captain William Gordon Chalmers (1835-1868) of the 15th Punjabees (Pioneers), later numbered 23rd. Acquired by the father of the current owner c.1950s directly from the family of Captain Chalmers. Captain William Gordon Chalmers was born in Monkshill, Aberdeen in 1835 and became a Lieutenant in the 51st Bengal Native Infantry on the 27th January 1857. In 1860, he served in the Second Opium War at the Taku Forts, Tianjin, and Beijing.

Cf. I Clark, For Blessings and Guidance: the Qianlong Emperor's Design for State Sacrificial Vessels, p. 74, fig.35 for another leaf from the Huang Chao Li Qi Tu Shi in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing depicting a deng vessel of the same design. The author also describes this vessel which was used in the Temple to Imperial Ancestors. See also p.187, no.21 for a pair of deng vessels of the same design from the Huaihaitang Collection, no.18R10.11; see The Victoria and Albert Museum, London for similar album leaves, and Christie's Paris, 13th December 2017, lot 108 for related examples recently sold at auction.

The Illustrated Regulations for Ceremonial Paraphernalia of the Present Dynasty is a manuscript commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor. It was a major Imperial commission and as many as twenty-seven court painters and calligraphers worked on it between 1750 and 1759 under five editors including Yilu, Wang Youdin and Guanbao. The book is comprised of six parts: musical instruments, scientific equipment, ceremonial vessels, dress, weaponry and insignia. They contain more than thirteen hundred leaves of illustrations and texts explaining the specifications of paraphernalia used in the highly complex state ritual practices. There are many versions of this book but the leaves in this present lot are from the original edition kept at the Wenyuan Pavilion Library of the Old Summer Palace, Beijing.