China, Qing dynasty (1644-1912). The panel is finely enameled with a pair of pheasants standing on blue rocks surrounded by narcissus in the foreground and camellias, wintersweet prunus, nandina, and podocarpus rising from behind, all below a gilt poem by the Qianlong Emperor alluding to the scene.

Inscriptions: Top right, a poem by the Qianlong Emperor, followed by the cyclical Guisi date (corresponding to 1773), the two characters ‘Yu ti’ (Imperial Poem), an inscription signed by Wang Jihua (Respectfully inscribed by your servant Wang Jihua), and two seals ‘chen Hua’ and ‘jing shu’.

Provenance: A notable private collector in Kensington, London, United Kingdom. Previously acquired in the French auction market.
Condition: Firing flaws, expected pitting overall, areas of minor warping, the lacquered back cover with extensive crackling. Areas of bruising with associated extensive hairline cracks, all well visible on additional images on www.zacke.at. Overall fine condition commensurate with age and presenting well.

Weight: 12 kg
Dimensions: Image size 70.8 x 47.7 cm, Size incl. frame 77.3 x 54.3 cm

The hardwood frame and gilt-bronze fitting in the form of archaistic confronting phoenixes dating to the 20^th century.

The poem on the present panel, composed by the Qianlong Emperor, is recorded in Yuzhi Shiji, Compilation of Imperial Poems, volume 4, dated 1773. The original title of the poem as recorded in Yuzhi Shiji can be read as ‘On Yang Dazhang's bird and flower (painting), appropriating Wen Tingyun's style’, suggesting the scene depicted on the panel is based on a painting by Yang Dazhang, while the poem above is after the style of Wen Tingyun. Yang Dazhang (active during the 18th century) was an esteemed court painter during the Qianlong reign, specializing in landscape, bird and flower genres. Wen Tingyun (812-870) was a celebrated poet from the late Tang dynasty, highly regarded by the Qianlong Emperor.

The inscription following the poem includes the name Wang Jihua (1717-1776), a native of Qiantang (present day Hangzhou in Zhejiang province), who served as a high official at the court of the Qianlong Emperor. Wang managed the Wuying Hall in the Forbidden City, a storehouse for various rare books and archives. In 1770, the Qianlong Emperor commissioned him to transcribe all seven volumes of the Lotus Sutra. Upon his death at the age of 60, Wang was given the posthumous title Wenzhuang. See Zhongguo meishujia renming cidian, Shanghai, 1981, page 124.

Literature comparison: An inlaid lacquer screen bearing a Yu zhi mark and an inscription including the name Wang Jihua and the same two seals was sold at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 5 November 1996, lot 1002.

Expert’s note: The present cloisonné panel is almost identical to one sold at Christie’s Hong Kong in 2014 (see Auction result comparison), dated to the Qianlong period. The single difference between the two lots lies in an additional shade of blue used to accentuate the central rock (in the Christie’s panel), which appears to have been omitted in the present lot, most likely because of simplified manufacturing procedures. The Qianlong Emperor would often commission second (and third, fourth, etc.) editions of his favorite pieces, across all types of Chinese works of art, as gifts for his favorites, officials, and other subjects. The lesser the differences are between earlier and later editions, the shorter the time period usually was between them. Thus, it is this author’s personal opinion that the present lot may well have been commissioned within the Qianlong Emperor’s reign.

Auction result comparison: Compare a near-identical inscribed cloisonné panel, with the same depiction, poem, and dating as the present lot, at Christie’s Hong Kong, in Through Connoisseurs’ Eyes – Works of Art for the Emperor, on 28 May 2014, lot 3015, sold for HKD 2,440,000.

清乾隆癸巳年（1773年）掐絲琺瑯禦詩《歲朝圖》挂屏
中國，清代(1644-1912)。長方形挂屏，藍琺瑯釉為地，一對錦雞立於青石上，四周環繞水仙、茶花、梅花、南天竹、羅漢松等吉祥花卉樹木，一派和熙春色。右上角是一首乾隆御詩。

款識：右上角乾隆御詩一首：黃香磬口蓊濛奼/穗穗珊珠垂上下/埭邊琱玉香霧凝/渚裔凌波秀而野/一雙錦雞語膠膠/飛上湖石爭艷冶/金壺滴露淨娟娟/不以形傳以神寫/曰聲曰色活脫工/相將流水回風中/羅漢松惟示真諦/幻化韶光了堪契/癸巳春正 禦題/臣王際華敬書；印 “臣華”“敬書”。

來源：英國倫敦肯辛頓知名私人收藏，購於法國拍賣市場。
品相：整體狀況良好，與年齡相符。燒製缺陷，預期整體點蝕，局部輕微翹曲，上漆的背部有大量裂紋。局部有纖細的裂紋，在 www.zacke.at 上的其他圖像上都可以清楚地看到。

重量：12 公斤
尺寸：畫面 70.8 x 47.7 厘米，縂 77.3 x 54.3 厘米

硬木框，鎏金青銅配件，古色古香的鳳凰紋，應爲 20 世紀。

此詩為乾隆於乾隆癸已年（1773）所作，收錄於《禦製詩四集》卷九，原名為《題楊大章花鳥偶效溫庭筠體》。從詩名可知，此屏紋樣是以楊大章花鳥圖為藍本，上方題詩則效深爲乾隆推崇的唐代詩人溫庭筠。楊大章曾是乾隆朝宮廷畫師，善畫花鳥山水人物。

屏上詩句為王際華書法。王際華（1717-1776年），浙江錢塘縣人，乾隆朝重臣，曾主理修書刊印以及保存圖書的武英殿。1770年，乾隆皇帝命他謄抄《法華經》七卷。 60歲時去世，諡號文莊。見《中國美書家人名辭典》，上海，1981年，第124頁。

文獻比較：一件王際華題御詩的漆屏以及兩個相同的鈴印，售於香港蘇富比1996年11月5日lot 1002。

專家注釋：一件幾乎一模一樣的乾隆年代掐絲琺琅挂屏，2014年售於香港佳士得 (見拍賣結果比較)。兩件挂屏最主要的區別在於中心假山上藍色琺琅的陰影處理。佳士得的挂屏此處顔色處理稍微簡化。乾隆帝經常將他最喜歡的作品的第二版（甚至第三版、第四版等）贈送給他最喜歡的官員，此類禮品涵蓋所有類型的中國藝術作品。較早版本和較晚版本之間的差異越小，它們之間的時間間隔通常就越短。 因此，筆者認為，這件拍品極其可能同樣為乾隆年間所製。

拍賣結果比較：一件幾乎一模一樣的掐絲琺琅挂屏，見香港佳士得Through Connoisseurs’ Eyes – Works of Art for the Emperor 2014年5月28日 lot 3015, 售價HKD 2,440,000。