17th Oct, 2024 11:00

TWO-DAY AUCTION: Fine Asian Art, Buddhism and Hinduism

 
  Lot 80
 

80

A PAIR OF CLOISONNÉ-INSET GILT-BRONZE WALL VASES, QIANLONG PERIOD

Sold for €2,600

including Buyer's Premium


Lot details

China, 1736-1795. Each finely cast with a flattened ovoid body supported on a spreading foot and rising to a long waisted neck flanked by openworked scroll-form handles, set with a central panel decorated in bright enamels with a stylized lotus blossom surrounded by scrolling foliage against a dark blue ground, surrounded by finely incised lotus scroll below stiff leaves and ruyi, the foot encircled by a band of key-fret. The flat back with an aperture for suspension. (2)

Provenance: English trade, acquired from a private estate in London.
Condition: Very good condition with expected old wear, some manufacturing irregularities, small nicks, light dents, minor losses to the enamels, one with an associated old fill.

Weight: 302 g and 272 g
Dimensions: Height 16.7 cm and 16.5 cm

Expert’s note: These wall vases display the ornate yet precise Imperial aesthetic and technical mastery that characterizes cloisonné wares of the High Qing period. They are particularly fine in the vibrant tones achieved in their enamels and the elegant execution of the linework of the cloisons. The bronze incisions, which are among the best that this author has seen in Qianlong metal wares, add further to the overall rather spectacular appearance of the present lot.

Wall vases in general were particularly popular during the reign of Qianlong and are known to have adorned the walls of the Sanxitang (The Hall of Three Rarities), a tiny studio next to the Imperial bedchamber in the Yangxindian. They were produced in a variety of materials, including porcelain, cloisonné enamel and lacquer, and occasionally inscribed with poems by the Emperor himself. Compare several porcelain wall vases in the collection of the Palace Museum Beijing, illustrated in The Life of Emperor Qianlong, The Macau Museum of Art, Macau, 2002, cat. nos. 63-2 to 63-9.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related gilt-bronze jardinière with cloisonné-inset panels, dated mid-Qing dynasty, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Enamels 4. Cloisonné in the Qing Dynasty, p. 48, no. 18.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 7 June 2011, lot 319
Price: EUR 15,000 or approx. EUR 20,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An enameled gilt-bronze wall vase, Qing dynasty, late Qianlong period
Expert remark: Compare the related form and decorations. Note the similar size (18.2 cm) and that this lot comprises only one wall vase.

 

China, 1736-1795. Each finely cast with a flattened ovoid body supported on a spreading foot and rising to a long waisted neck flanked by openworked scroll-form handles, set with a central panel decorated in bright enamels with a stylized lotus blossom surrounded by scrolling foliage against a dark blue ground, surrounded by finely incised lotus scroll below stiff leaves and ruyi, the foot encircled by a band of key-fret. The flat back with an aperture for suspension. (2)

Provenance: English trade, acquired from a private estate in London.
Condition: Very good condition with expected old wear, some manufacturing irregularities, small nicks, light dents, minor losses to the enamels, one with an associated old fill.

Weight: 302 g and 272 g
Dimensions: Height 16.7 cm and 16.5 cm

Expert’s note: These wall vases display the ornate yet precise Imperial aesthetic and technical mastery that characterizes cloisonné wares of the High Qing period. They are particularly fine in the vibrant tones achieved in their enamels and the elegant execution of the linework of the cloisons. The bronze incisions, which are among the best that this author has seen in Qianlong metal wares, add further to the overall rather spectacular appearance of the present lot.

Wall vases in general were particularly popular during the reign of Qianlong and are known to have adorned the walls of the Sanxitang (The Hall of Three Rarities), a tiny studio next to the Imperial bedchamber in the Yangxindian. They were produced in a variety of materials, including porcelain, cloisonné enamel and lacquer, and occasionally inscribed with poems by the Emperor himself. Compare several porcelain wall vases in the collection of the Palace Museum Beijing, illustrated in The Life of Emperor Qianlong, The Macau Museum of Art, Macau, 2002, cat. nos. 63-2 to 63-9.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related gilt-bronze jardinière with cloisonné-inset panels, dated mid-Qing dynasty, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Enamels 4. Cloisonné in the Qing Dynasty, p. 48, no. 18.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 7 June 2011, lot 319
Price: EUR 15,000 or approx. EUR 20,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An enameled gilt-bronze wall vase, Qing dynasty, late Qianlong period
Expert remark: Compare the related form and decorations. Note the similar size (18.2 cm) and that this lot comprises only one wall vase.

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