Printed from Woolley & Wallis

Description

A RARE CHINESE UNDERGLAZE COPPER RED 'SQUIRREL AND VINE' MEIPING
KANGXI 1662-1722

The finely potted vase decorated around the body with two squirrels hiding amongst a fruiting grapevine, between bands of stylised lotus flowerheads and leaf scrolls, the short flared neck with three flower motifs, 26.5cm.

Provenance: purchased from John Audley, March 1913, by John Sparks, and then the collection of William Cleverley Alexander (1840-1916), purchased from John Sparks, London, 9th June 1913 for £30, stock number 4397, a copy of the invoice is available.

Cf. The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (iii), p.180, no.164, p.181, no.165 and p.189, no.173 for related vases painted in underglaze red dated to the Kangxi and Qianlong periods.

For further information about John Audley, see R Davids & D Jellinek, Provenance, p.52.

清康熙 釉裡紅松樹葡萄梅瓶
來源：1913年由John Sparks購於John Audley，之後威廉·克萊爾利·亞歷山大（1840-1916）收藏，1913年6月9日以£30價格購於倫敦John Sparks，編號4397（附發票復印件）

 

William Cleverley Alexander (1840-1916) was one of the most noted connoisseurs of his day. He was an accomplished draughtsman, a member of the Burlington Fine Arts Club and a founding member of the National Art Collections Fund, and was renowned for his taste in Western paintings and Asian works of art. This acclaim was noted in William Alexander's obituary written in 1916 by the British artist and critic Roger Fry who noted the remarkable good taste which guided Alexander’s acquisition of the pieces in his collection. The collection was started in 1867 and included items from the Tang, Song, Ming and Qing dynasties. He loaned items from his collection to a number of important exhibitions, including the Burlington Arts Club exhibitions in 1895, 1896 and 1910, and the ground-breaking exhibition of Chinese Applied Art held at the City of Manchester Art Gallery in 1913. He was also an early patron of James McNeill Whistler. A large portion of his collection of Chinese ceramics collection was sold by Alexander's daughters at Sotheby's in 1931 and an important Yuan dynasty gourd-shaped vase was sold in these rooms in 2005. For further details about The Alexander Collection see Hobson, Rackham and King, Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections, where 58 pieces from the collection are illustrated.

威廉·克萊弗利·亞歷山大（William Cleverley Alexander，1840-1916）是當時藝壇的翹楚，以其卓越的藝術眼光聞名於世。他不僅是一位技藝精湛的繪圖師，更是伯靈頓美術俱樂部的成員，並參與創立了國家藝術收藏基金。他對西方繪畫與亞洲藝術的鑒賞力，尤其為人所稱道。1916年，英國藝術家兼評論家羅傑·弗萊（Roger Fry）在為他撰寫的訃告中，特別讚揚了亞歷山大收藏中的非凡品味，稱其選物之精妙，無一不顯其獨到眼光。

亞歷山大的收藏始於1867年，涵蓋了唐、宋、明、清各個朝代的藝術珍品，件件皆為時代精華。他多次將珍藏借展於重要展覽，如1895年、1896年及1910年的伯靈頓美術俱樂部展覽，更在1913年曼徹斯特市藝術畫廊舉辦的「中國應用藝術展」中，以其珍品驚艷四座。此外，他也是畫家詹姆斯·麥克尼爾·惠斯勒（James McNeill Whistler）的早期贊助人，助其藝術事業蒸蒸日上。

亞歷山大去世後，他的女兒於1931年將大批中國陶瓷珍藏委託蘇富比拍賣，其中一件元代葫蘆瓶更於2005年再度現身拍場，引發眾多藏家競逐。若想深入了解亞歷山大收藏的風采，可參閱霍布森（Hobson）、拉克姆（Rackham）與金（King）合著的《私人收藏中的中國陶瓷》（Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections），書中收錄了58件珍藏的圖錄，供後人賞鑒。