ZZQYT1
QINGDAI YUZHI TONGBANHUA. Palace Copperplate Etchings of the Qing Dynasty. Beijing, 1999. 30 double-page foldouts. 5 pp. English and Chinese text. 61x46 cm. Cloth, silk case.
GBP 675.00
A massive work which shows the 2 series of etchings commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor to celebrate the campaigns and victories against barbarian tribes in West China and pirates and rebels in Taiwan.
'Pingding Xiyu Zhan Tu' (Paintings of the War Pacifying West China) comprises 16 etchings of battles, sieges, surrenders and celebratory banquets given by Qianlong commemorating the campaigns of 1755-1759 which quelled Sunga and Uiyghur uprisings in Xinjiang. Accompanied by 2 pages of calligraphy by Qianlong. The etchings were made in France by Cochin between 1766 and c.1770 from drawings prepared in Beijing by the Jesuit artists and craftsmen Castiglione, Attiret, Sichelbarth and Damasene. A mere 200 sets of the etchings were sent to China and very few remained in Europe.
'Pingding Taiwan Zhan Tu' (Paintings of the War Pacifying Taiwan) comprises 12 etchings showing Qianlong's campaign and victory against the rebel forces of Li Shuangwen. The etchings were made after 1789 but the artists who produced the original drawings are, as yet, unknown. The Taiwan etchings are much more traditionally Chinese in style and may have been done by Chinese court artists. The series shows land and sea battles, sieges and surrenders.
The 2 series together form an impressive work. The reproductions of the etchings although reduced in size (79x46 cm) from the originals (91x55 cm) are still more than large enough to give a fine impression of the scale of this artistic undertaking. The reproductions are of high quality and show incredible detail and workmanship. All plates have commentaries by the Emperor.
With introductory explanatory texts in English and Chinese.
Subjects: Rare Books Illustrated Books
Can be ordered in, as of: 03/07/2008
Was item 235 in printed List 140.
Record produced by Hanshan Tang Books, www.hanshan.com.
