Page 131 - Sotheby's Fine Chinese Art NYC September 2023

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A MASSIVE AND EXTREMELY RARE 清乾隆 銅胎掐絲琺瑯三羊開泰寶塔式
CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL ‘SANYANG’ CENSER 三足大熏爐
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD
(7) 來源
Height 46 in., 116.8 cm Spink & Son Ltd.，倫敦，1965年7月5日
PROVENANCE
Spink & Son Ltd., London, 5th July 1965.
This massive censer is a classic example of Qing imperial
cloisonné in terms of its elaborate design and scale. Its
cover takes the form of a pagoda, a popular design feature
at the Qing court. A pair of cylindrical censers with pagoda
tops can be seen, for example, on either side of the imperial
throne in the Qianqing Hall (乾清宮) of the Forbidden City,
as illustrated in Chuimei Ho and Bennet Bronson, Splendors
of China’s Forbidden City - The Glorious Reign of Emperor
Qianlong, London, 2004, pls 32 and 34, pp 47-48.
The censer is resting on feet in the form of three rams,
another popular motif at the Qing court. The ram (or goat),
yang, is a traditional emblem of good fortune, as it is
a homophone of the term for ‘sun’, thus referring to
the positive principle. Three rams, san yang, evoke the
expression ‘san yang kai tai’, ‘the awakening of nature in
spring’, which equally signifies good fortune and happiness,
and therefore became a popular design conveying
auspicious blessings for the new year. Compare a yellow
jade zun in similar design, from the Palace Museum, Beijing,
illustrated in Yang Boda, Chinese Jades throughout the Ages,
vol. 12, Hong Kong, 1997, pl. 37.
A related pair of large incense burners with pagoda form
covers is on display at the Wallace Collection, London, and
published online (accession nos OA2367 and OA2368); and
a related censer with three feet in ram form, but attributed to
the Jiaqing period, sold in our London rooms, 4th May 1984,
lot 465; another of smaller size, sold at Christie’s London,
15th May 2012, lot 100. A pair of large cloisonné enamel
incense burners in the collection of the British Museum, each
resting on three feet in the form of cranes, is illustrated in
Jessica Rawson, The British Museum Book of Chinese Art,
London, 1992, pl. 142, p. 189.
Related censers cast in bronze can be seen throughout the
Imperial Gardens of the Forbidden City, in the grounds of the
Palace Museum, Beijing, as illustrated in Zhang Li, ‘Qinggong
tongqi zhizao kao. Yi Yong, Qian er chao weili. [Study of
bronze production at the Qing court from examples of
Yongzheng and Qianlong era]’, Gugong Bowuyuan yuankan
/ Palace Museum Journal , 2013, vol.5, pl. 5:1, p. 99; another
large bronze incense burner with three crane-form feet,
of Qianlong six-character mark and period, is on display in
the garden of Chonghua Palace, also in the Palace Museum,
see Zhang Li, op. cit., pl. 7:1, p. 100.
$ 250,000-350,000

258 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11275 PROPERTY FROM A NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTION 259