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Lot Essay
The first sixteen scenes of the present album are reproductions from a set produced to commemorate Emperor's Qianlong's victorious campaigns in Central Asia between 1755-1759.
The originals were commissioned by Qianlong on 13 July 1765 for the central hall of the Palace in Beijing. The drawings were prepared in China by four Jesuits: Giuseppe Castiglione, the director of the project, Jean-Denis Attiret, Ignatius Sichelbarth and Jean Damascene. By recommendation of Louis-Joseph Le Febvre, head of the French Jesuit mission to China, they were sent to Paris, where the engravings were executed by eight artists under the direction of Charles-Nicolas Cochin of the Academie Royale at the Court of Louis XVI. Jean-Philippe Le Bas, Helman's master, was one of the engravers. This commission was considered of utmost importance, as it potentially offered France means of leaving a favorable impression on the Emperor and thus gaining advantage in view of commerce and missioning, directed against the Dutch, Portuguese and English. The Qianlong emperor's commission was for an edition of one hundred copies only; however, to ensure the safe receipt of at least one hundred copies in China, an edition of 200 copies was actually printed. To reduce the risk of loss at sea they were distributed over two ships in lots of 100 impressions each. The entire edition was received in China by 1775 for which the Compagnie Francaise des Indes in Canton was paid the sum of 240,000 pounds. Only a very limited number of extra copies was printed for the French King, his ministers and some members of the Court and the greatest precaution was taken that no copies remained with the engravers or printers to ensure its exclusivity
The engraver, Isidore-Stanislas Helman (1743-1806?) was a student of Jean-Philippe Le Bas who worked on the original set of sixteen engravings. Between 1783-1788, Helman engraved a new series of cold-chisel prints in half the size of the original, for sale to the public. The success of the reproduction encouraged Helman to produce four additional prints in 1786, and a further four in 1788.
Complete series of Helman's work are extremely rare, although sets of the original battle engravings have been published: one set is in the Bibliotheque Mazarine; another in the Bibliotheque Nationale; a third is in the Musée Guimet; and a set given by Louis XVI to Necker is now lodged in the Castle Coppet in Switzerland.
The engravings are documented in a monograph by Michele Pirazzoli-t'Serstevens, Gravures des Conquetes de l'Empereur de Chine K'ien-Long au Musée Guimet, Paris 1969.
Compare with a similar set of twenty-four prints sold in our Paris rooms, 19 November 2003, lot 298.
The originals were commissioned by Qianlong on 13 July 1765 for the central hall of the Palace in Beijing. The drawings were prepared in China by four Jesuits: Giuseppe Castiglione, the director of the project, Jean-Denis Attiret, Ignatius Sichelbarth and Jean Damascene. By recommendation of Louis-Joseph Le Febvre, head of the French Jesuit mission to China, they were sent to Paris, where the engravings were executed by eight artists under the direction of Charles-Nicolas Cochin of the Academie Royale at the Court of Louis XVI. Jean-Philippe Le Bas, Helman's master, was one of the engravers. This commission was considered of utmost importance, as it potentially offered France means of leaving a favorable impression on the Emperor and thus gaining advantage in view of commerce and missioning, directed against the Dutch, Portuguese and English. The Qianlong emperor's commission was for an edition of one hundred copies only; however, to ensure the safe receipt of at least one hundred copies in China, an edition of 200 copies was actually printed. To reduce the risk of loss at sea they were distributed over two ships in lots of 100 impressions each. The entire edition was received in China by 1775 for which the Compagnie Francaise des Indes in Canton was paid the sum of 240,000 pounds. Only a very limited number of extra copies was printed for the French King, his ministers and some members of the Court and the greatest precaution was taken that no copies remained with the engravers or printers to ensure its exclusivity
The engraver, Isidore-Stanislas Helman (1743-1806?) was a student of Jean-Philippe Le Bas who worked on the original set of sixteen engravings. Between 1783-1788, Helman engraved a new series of cold-chisel prints in half the size of the original, for sale to the public. The success of the reproduction encouraged Helman to produce four additional prints in 1786, and a further four in 1788.
Complete series of Helman's work are extremely rare, although sets of the original battle engravings have been published: one set is in the Bibliotheque Mazarine; another in the Bibliotheque Nationale; a third is in the Musée Guimet; and a set given by Louis XVI to Necker is now lodged in the Castle Coppet in Switzerland.
The engravings are documented in a monograph by Michele Pirazzoli-t'Serstevens, Gravures des Conquetes de l'Empereur de Chine K'ien-Long au Musée Guimet, Paris 1969.
Compare with a similar set of twenty-four prints sold in our Paris rooms, 19 November 2003, lot 298.