石渠寶笈三編(御書房),第七冊,頁3096&故宮書畫錄(卷八),第四冊,頁76&故宮書畫圖錄,第六冊,頁159-160&明宣宗(西元一三九九-一四三五年),姓朱,名瞻基。建元宣德,都北京,自號長春真人,太祖曾孫。工書畫,山水、人物、花鳥、草蟲,往往與宣和(宋徽宗)爭勝。 此圖作成於宣德四年(一四二九),畫花偃仰得宜,而顧盼生姿,畫貓用筆精細,纖毫畢至。貓諧音為耄,祝頌長壽,並以牡丹寓富貴。銅壺花器虛懸,內僅花三朵,中間綠葉漸層而上,逾於梁上,極富輕盈之趣。地上置有橢圓三足洗,為典型明初官窯宮廷造器。畫上鈐「宣德秘閣圖書之寶」,並有大學士楊士奇(一三六五-一四四四)題記。 &Peonies in a Vase Attributed to Emperor Hsüan-tsung (1399-1435) Ming Dynasty Hsüan-tsung (surname Chu, personal name Tan-chi) was the grandson of Emperor Ch’eng-tsu (r. 1403-1424). The fifth emperor of the Ming dynasty, Hsüan-tsung ruled from 1425 to 1435 under the reign name of Hsüan-te. He enjoyed writing poems and painting, and he was able to produced spontaneous and natural works of art. In many ways, he is compared with the greatest of emperor-artists, Hui-tsung (r.1101-1125) of the Sung dynasty. In this painting dated to 1429, a vase of peonies has been beautifully rendered with delicate naturalism, and they appear suspended in a vase hooked to a rope. At the bottom of the painting is a furry cat gazing curiously up at the flowers. In Chinese, the pronunciation for cat is a homonym for old age. The cat here is thus a symbol for long life, while the peony is an age-old motif for prosperity. Although the vase appears full, only three blossoms of the luxuriant peony are shown. The shading and movement of the leaves are refined, suggesting three-dimensional space, while the color harmonizes with the hues of the bronze. To the middle right is a low three-legged wash basin typical of those made in the early Ming. At the top of the painting is a seal that reads Hsüan-te pi-ko t’u-shu chih pao (“Hsüan-te Treasure of the Imperial Repository”) and a long inscription by the grand secretariat Yang Shih-ch’i(1365-1444).