Lot 3011. A very rare small coral-ground tripod sundial, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 9.4 cm., 3 3/4  in. Estimate 2,000,000 — 3,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 2,440,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's 2013

of semi-hemispherical form supported on three baluster feet, the rounded sides rising to an everted rim and set with a gilt gnomon to allow for the sun's reflection, covered overall with a rich coral-red enamel and inscribed in gilt on the interior with twelve two-hour sequences scattered along a diagonal table matrix, namely mao, chen, si, wu, wei, shen and you, each subdivided in 'begining' (chu) and 'middle' (zheng) except for mao and you lacking their 'beginning' and 'end' respectively, the rim further detailed between gilt fillets with twenty-four compass direction, each enclosed in small roundel within impressed circles, the underside moulded with a cash-diaper ground above petal lappets, the baluster feet incised with taotiemasks, the base inscribed with a gilt-enamelled six-character seal mark.

Provenance: Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 9th April 1957, lot 4.
Palais Galliera, Paris, Etude Ader Picard, 16th June 1967, lot 161 (invoice).
Salle des ventes Rossini, Paris, 16th March 2010, lot 269.

Notes: This type of sundial is called a hemispherium. The gnomon casts a shadow and serves as a nodus. The height of the nodus-shadow within the bowl gives the times of year. When the sun is low in the sky in the winter, the nodus-shadow will be higher in the bowl and in summer the shadow will be lower. A companion piece to the present sundial, in the Baur Collection, Geneva, is illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, Geneva, 1999, vol. II, no. 250.  This is a variation of the more classic sundial consisting of a stone disk and a needle placed on a stone platform at an angle. Two Ming dynasty examples can be found in the ancient observatory in Beijing and outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony inside the Forbidden City.

In its technique, the sundial shows a good understanding of contemporary lacquer wares carved with a similar decorative ground, perhaps there was an original example that served as a blueprint. Noteworthily, the same moulded diaper motif can be found on a porcelain tripod incense burner, in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the museum’s Special Exhibition of K’ang-his, Yung-Cheng and Ch’ien-Lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch’ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, cat. no. 113; and on a bowl, from the Qing court collection and still in Beijing, illustrated in Kangxi. Yongzheng. Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 101.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Hong Kong, 08 avr. 2013