Page 66 - Bonhams, Fine Chinese Art, London November 3, 2022

Superbly cast and meticulously decorated with multiple coloured The combination of cracked designs interspersed with auspicious
enamels, the present candlesticks are remarkable examples displaying symbols, such as it can be noted on the drip pans of the present
the high standards achieved in the Imperial workshops during the candlesticks, is unusual. The cracked ice design was especially
Kangxi reign. popular on objects produced during the Kangxi reign. See for example,
a cloisonné altar set, Kangxi, comprising an incense burner, a pair of
Figures of foreigners depicted with large rounded eyes and bushy candlesticks and a pair of vases, decorated with prunus blossoms
eyebrows have been a popular subject in Chinese art dating from at on a cracked-ice ground, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
least the Tang period, when the increased presence of foreigners in illustrated in Enamel Ware of the Ch’ing Dynasties, Taipei, 1999, pp.97-
China prompted a new fascination and a gradual stylisation of the 100, pls.26-28.
image of the foreigner in Chinese art. Painters of Buddhist luohan and
tribute missions to the Imperial Court continued the fascination with Compare a pair of gilt-bronze cloisonné enamel ‘foreigner’
the exotic in subsequent periods. candlesticks, Kangxi, which was sold at Sotheby’s Paris, 13 June
2016, lot 55. See also a related pair of cloisonné candlesticks
The strong facial features, curly beards and hair held in place by a supported by foreigners, portrayed in a similar stance and attired in
curving metal fillet displayed by the present foreigners closely compare similar garments as the present examples, Kangxi, which was sold
with four small foreigners with bare chests kneeling to support a gilt at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2012, lot 3906. A similar costume
bronze and cloisonné enamel incense of burner, early Qing dynasty: is also worn by a single cloisonné enamel and gilt-bronze kneeling
see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, figure of a foreigner holding a shallow bowl, Kangxi, which was sold at
Metal-Bodied Enamel Ware, Beijing, 2011, p.106, no.79. See also a Sotheby’s, New York, 23 March 2004, lot 528. The sleeveless jacket
related cloisonné candlestick supported by a kneeling foreigner, early inlaid with a dragon rising from a band of waves recalls the traditional
Qing dynasty, illustrated in Ibid., vol.2, p.139, no.104 Qing Court robes worn by the single cloisonné figure of a kneeling
foreigner holding up a sphere, Kangxi, which was sold at Christie’s,
Hong Kong, 26 April 1999, lot 561.

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