A rare Imperial Beijing-enamel famille rose 'double-butterfly' snuff dish


Blue enamelled Qianlong four-character mark and of the periodOf oval six-lobed section, finely and delicately painted with two brightly-hued confronted butterflies in flight in various shades of blue, pink, green, white and yellow, the underside with two leafy floral sprays on a yellow ground encircling the four-character reign mark within a double square, the rim mounted in gilt. 5cm (2in) wide.
|清乾隆 銅胎畫琺瑯雙蝶紋鼻煙蝶藍料「乾隆年製」楷書款The rich colour palette and the delicacy of the design employed to decorate this exquisite snuff dish displays the superb craftsmanship of the Imperial Palace Workshops in Beijing, the Zaobanchu, and the extraordinary skill of the painters in rendering naturalistic butterflies onto miniature works of art.The design of the multi-coloured butterflies, as beautifully shown in the present lot, is in continuation of painted enamel wares on porcelain and copper produced during the Kangxi and Yongzheng reigns. The colour palette as well as the painting style display western influence bearing witness to the cross-fertilisation of Asian and Western cultures at the Imperial Court. Compare with a porcelain 'double-butterfly' dish, Qianlong mark and period, similarly decorated with confronted butterflies, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Radiant Luminance: The Painted Enamelware of the Qing Imperial Court, Taipei, 2012, p.117, no.78; and see also a painted enamel lobed dish decorated with butterflies, Yongzheng mark and period, illustrated ibid., no.77.乾隆時期，中國的工藝在用料、造型、裝飾和技術上已發展至頂峰。本鼻煙碟所運用的畫琺瑯工藝始於康熙年間，到了乾隆一朝發揚光大。本器所繪的雙蝶紋，盡顯前朝康熙及雍正時期的遺風，但從其裝飾紋飾以及色彩運用上均明顯展示了中西文化上的交流。盒上所飾蝴蝶紋是吸收了西洋文化後在中國的應用，畫風更為寫生，線條奔放，色彩調諧，洋溢著西方畫風，同時亦體現了清宮造辦處畫琺瑯工匠之高超技藝。台北國立故宮博物院藏一件清乾隆瓷胎畫琺瑯對蝶紋盤可作比較，見施靜菲，《日月光華：清宮畫琺瑯》，台北，2012年，頁117，編號78；清雍正時期亦見銅胎畫琺瑯對蝶紋盤，見同上著錄，編號77。