Chinese porcelain ewer and cover decorated in underglaze cobalt blue (qinghua), Kangxi.

Chinese porcelain ewer and cover with the ovoid body decorated in underglaze cobalt blue (qinghua) with a continuous scene of a boy riding a qilin followed by another carrying a parasol, the procession led by two flag-bearers, the shoulder with four beast-head lug handles, the cover decorated with a boy kicking a shuttlecock into the air, c. 1690, Kangxi reign, Qing dynasty, h. 19 cm; 7½ in. 1-17308

Provenance: Francesco Maria, Marchese Taliani de Marchio (1887 - 1968), Grand Officer of the Italian Crown, Commander of the Order of St Maurice and Lazarus, and Commander of the Order of Pius IX (Ordine Piano), and his wife Archduchess Maragaretha d'Austria Toscana, Marchesa Taliani de Marchio (1894-1986).

◆ Marchese Taliani was a distinguished Italian diplomat who lived through major historical upheavals of the first half of the 20th century, events whose impact affects all to this day. His first diplomatic appointment was to Berlin in 1912; followed by Constantinople in 1913, where during the First World War he negotiated an agreement for the protection Italian citizens and interests in the (soon to demise) Ottoman Empire. From 1916 to 1919 he served in St Petersburg, and under the privilege of diplomatic immunity was in a unique position to observe and chronicle first-hand the October Revolution, its day by day development, the subsequent fall of Tsarist Russia and the establishment of the Soviet Republic; from 1919 he served in Rome as Secretary of State for the Minister of Foreign Affairs; with later assignments to London (1921 - 1923) and again to Constantinople (1924 – 1928), this time as the Republic of Turkey; from 1929 - 1930 he was in Rome as Head of Protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; in 1932 he was appointed Italian Ambassador to the Netherlands; in 1938 he was appointed Ambassador to China, where he remained until 1946; and his last diplomatic appointment was in 1951 as Ambassador to Spain until 1952.
Sent to China in 1938 as Ambassador to the National Chiang Kai-shek Government in Nanjing , he became an acute - and far from humourless, despite the hardships of everyday life - front line eye-witness of the Second Sino-Japanese War, during which the Japanese forces captured the capital and attacked Shanghai. When Mussolini recognised Wang Jingwei's Japanese puppet government, Taliani presented his credentials to him. On 8 September 1943, having refused to swear allegiance to the Italian Social Republic (Republic of Salò), he and his wife, the Archduchess Margaretha d'Austria Toscana (1894 - 1986), were arrested and interned by the Japanese in a concentration camp near Shanghai, where they remained for two years until the end of the war. After the end of hostilities, the new government of Alcide de Gasperi reconfirmed him as Ambassador to China until 1946.
Many of the purchase invoices survive, providing an important documentation of Chinese art dealers active in Shanghai and Beijing between 1938 and 1946. The majority of the invoices are dated to between December 1938 and July 1943, with a significant gap until April 1946, explained by Marchese Taliani and his wife's internment by the Japanese. The long list of dealers demonstrates the vibrant Chinese art market in Shanghai and Beijing in the late 1930s and early 1940s; this list includes the following:
In Shanghai - K. D. Lu, Yee Chun Chang, C. K. Chou, Strehlneek's Gallery of Chinese Art, The Midoh Co., Tung Koo Tsar Chinese Curios & Arts Co., Philip Chu, Zui Wha Curios & Co., T. Y. King & Co., King Koo Chai, Tai Loong & Co., Tin Dao Shan Fang, Y. L. Hong, Chu Tsun Tsai, The China Curios Co., Hsueh Ken Chai, Zung Chang Ziang Co., The Little Pagoda, M. L. Kwauh, Hoggard – Sigler, and Foo Yuen Tsai.
In Beijing - J. Plaut, Jung Hsing Chai, Mathias Komor, Tung Ku Chai Curio and Picture Store, Yi Pao Chai Jade Store, Jung Hsing Chai, Wan E. Cheng, Yung Pao Chia Jade Store, Mario Prodan, and Tung Yi & Co.
Marchese Taliani published three books: Pietrogrado 1917, Milan, 1935; È Morto in Cina, Milan, 1949; and Dopoguerra a Shanghai, Milan, 1958.

中國青花童戲圖帶蓋水罐，器身繪有一幅通景圖，圖中一童子騎著麒麟，後面跟著另一童子手執著傘，前方有兩個旗手，器肩有四個獸面把手，蓋子畫著一童子將毽子踢向空中，約1690年，清康熙，高19釐米，7½英吋。

藏品来源：意大利皇家總司令，St Maurice及Lazarus指揮官，Pius IX (Ordine Piano)指揮官Francesco Maria, Marchese Taliani de Marchio (戴良尼，1887-1968) 和Maragaretha d'Austria Toscana, Marchesa Taliani de Marchio (1894-1986) 伉俪收藏。

◆除了佛，佛教徒還崇拜菩薩。菩薩本身已完成自我救贖卻決定不成佛，而去普度眾生。

菩薩分好幾類；最為人熟悉的莫過於觀世音菩薩，文殊菩薩和彌勒菩薩。其中的觀世音菩薩，中文亦稱觀音，在佛教世界中最早開始擁有信徒。

菩薩有幾處明顯特征：身穿垂墜衣裳，配首飾；垂耳；前額有胎記；有些梳著髮髻，有些卻長髮披肩；形象或端坐或站立。 

東亞大乘佛教中的觀音，是西方人眼中的“仁慈女神”。觀音的中文全稱為觀世音，意為“聽到世界的聲音”。

有些佛教信徒認為，當誠心的人離開世界之時，觀音會將他們放在蓮花中央，送他們去西方極樂世界。

觀音作為最受歡迎的佛教形象，她的神奇力量能夠幫助所有信奉她的人。

◆ 作為一名傑出的意大利籍外交官，Marchese Taliani（戴良尼）經歷了動蕩的20世紀上半葉，也親歷了至今影響深遠的重要歷史事件。1912年，他第一次出任到柏林；1913年被派去君士坦丁堡，在一戰時期他出力協商簽訂協議，保護了意大利人民和行將解散的奧斯曼帝國的利益。1916至1919年間，Marchese Taliani駐聖彼得堡，因擁有外交豁免權的獨特地位，他因此在第一線見證了十月革命的一步步發展，從沙皇俄國的落敗直到蘇維埃共和的建立；從1919年起，Marchese Taliani在羅馬擔任外交部國務卿；隨後又被派去倫敦（1921-1923）而後回到已是土耳其共和國的君士坦丁堡（1924-1928）；從1929年至1930年，他在羅馬任外交部禮賓司司長；1932年任駐尼德蘭意大利領事；1938年被任命為駐華領事，直至1946年；他在1951至1952年間擔任駐西班牙領事，完成了其最後的外交任務。

1938年Marchese Taliani被派往中國，任南京蔣介石政府領事，儘管生活艱辛，他為人嚴謹卻不失風趣幽默。他親歷抗日戰爭，見證了日軍佔領首都，強攻上海。后意大利總理墨索里尼承認汪精衛傀儡政府，Taliani便向汪政府交代了自己的身份。1943年9月8日，因Taliani拒绝宣誓和服务意大利社会共和国，他和他的妻子the Archduchess Margaretha d'Austria Toscana (1894 - 1986)被逮捕并被关进上海附近的日本集中营，直至兩年后抗日戰爭結束。历经磨难，最后阿爾契德.加斯貝利新政府重新承認Taliani的身份并恢復他駐華領事的身份，最後於1946年卸任。
眾多保存至今的發票收據，都對記錄1938年至1946年上海北京兩地中國古董商起著重要的作用。這些收據大部分都出自1938年12月至1943年7月間。因為Marchese Taliani及其妻子有段時間被日方囚禁，直到1946年4月才又開始重新購買中國藝術品。因此收據日期中有較長的一段空白期。 這一長串古董商的名單，說明了1930年代末，1940年代初上海和北京繁榮的中國藝術品市場。這些古董商包括：

上海- 鼎盛齋，Yee Chun Chang，C. K. Chou，Strehlneek's Gallery of Chinese Art，The Midoh Co.，通古齋，Philip Chu，Zui Wha Curios & Co.，金財記，King Koo Chai，Tai Loong & Co.，Tin Dao Shan Fang，Y. L. Hong，Chu Tsun Tsai，The China Curios Co.，Hsueh Ken Chai，Zung Chang Ziang Co.，The Little Pagoda，M. L. Kwauh，Hoggard – Sigler，及Foo Yuen Tsai。

北京- J. Plaut，Jung Hsing Chai，Mathias Komor，通古齋，Yi Pao Chai Jade Store，Jung Hsing Chai，Wan E. Cheng，Yung Pao Chai Jade Store，Mario Prodan，及通運公司。

Marchese Taliani出版過三本書：《Pietrogrado 1917》，1935年米蘭出版；《他似在中國》，1949年米蘭出版；《從戰後到上海》，1958年米蘭出版。