Page 28 - Sotheby's London Important Chinese Art Nov. 2019

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A RARE LARGE CLOISONNE ENAMEL ‘FISH’ 清乾隆 掐絲琺瑯鹿鶴魚藻紋大缸
BASIN
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD 來源
美國私人收藏
with deep slightly flaring sides and flat base, decorated 紐約蘇富比1992年12月1至2日，編號167
to the interior with large brightly coloured carp, small 文德爾伉儷收藏
fish, toads and crustaceans swimming amidst aquatic
plants, all reserved against a rich turquoise-blue ground, 香港佳士得2012年5月30日, 編號3910
the exterior decorated with deer and cranes scattered a 展覽
rocky landscape set with a river and gnarled trees, the 1973至1992年間借展於美國佐治亞州High博物館
base with florets reserved on a rich dark-blue ground 2007至2012年間借展於美國佛羅里達州棕櫚灘諾頓
Diameter 62 cm, 24⅜ in.
美術館
PROVENANCE
An American private collection.
Sotheby’s New York, 1st and 2nd December 1992, lot 167.
The Mandel Collection.
Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th May 2012, lot 3910.
EXHIBITED
High Museum, Atlanta, Georgia, on loan and exhibited 1973-
1992.
Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach, Florida, on loand and
exhibited 2007-2012.
This magnificent large basin shows the renewed interest
in cloisonné enamel during the Qianlong period (r.
1736-1795). Under the Qianlong emperor, the palette
was expanded to more than twenty opaque colours,
several introduced by Jesuit artists, enabling craftsmen
to compose lavish and vibrantly coloured designs, as
demonstrated on the present vessel.
The designs on the exterior and interior of the present
vessel are very different in character but both rich in
auspicious symbolism. The idyllic landscapes on the
exterior depicting cranes (lu), deer (he), and gnarled pine
trees, popular emblems of long life, create the phrase helu
tongchun (May husband and wife enjoy spring together);
while the interior scene of boldly coloured fish (yu), a
symbol of abundance, swimming in water (shui) form the
rebus yushui hexie (May you be as harmonious as fish and
water).
Few examples of this size and quality are known. Compare
a closely related example in the Pierre Uldry collection,
included in the exhibition Chinesisches Cloisonné. Die
Sammlung Pierre Uldry, Rietberg Museum, Zurich, 1985,
cat. no. 322; two other examples sold at Christie’s Paris,
one from the Juan Jose Amezaga et Maria Dolores Feijoo
collection, 7th December 2007, lot 38, and the second,
9th June 2015, lot 58; another example sold at Christie’s
Hong Kong, 30th May 2018, lot 3039. See also a related
basin, but the exterior predominantly decorated in white,
from the Avery Brundage collection and now in the Asian
Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, was included
in the exhibition Cloisonné. Chinese Enamels from the
Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, the Bard Graduate Center:
Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture, New
York, 2011, cat. no. 113.
‡ W £ 80,000-120,000
HK$ 785,000-1,180,000 US$ 100,000-150,000

26 Buyers are liable to pay both the hammer price (as estimated above) and the buyer’s premium together with any applicable taxes and Artist’s Resale Right (which will depend on the individual circumstances).
Refer to the Buying at Auction and VAT sections at the back of this catalogue for further information.