Page 304 - Christies IMportant Chinese Art Sept 26 2020 NYC

1788
A RARE AND UNUSUAL PASTE 'GEM'-INLAID
GILT-METAL, BAISSE TAILLE AND PAINTED
ENAMEL VASE-FORM CLOCK CASE
THE CASE, GUANGZHOU, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
The moon flask-form case is inset with a clock encircled
on the front by dark blue enamel and a band of green
paste key fret, with baisse taille decoration on the back
and sides, and multi-colored paste 'gems' on the neck
and handles, the whole raised on a painted enamel base
shaped as a lotus flower raised on an inverted lotus leaf.
15æ in. (40 cm.) high
$70,000-90,000

PROVENANCE:
Private collection, California.
The current clock case is a wonderful example of the
lavishly decorated and embellished objects made in
Guangzhou for tribute to the Qing Court. In 1685,
the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1662-1722) lifted the ban
on maritime trading with foreign countries, thus
establishing the port city of Guangzhou (Canton) in
Guangdong province as the major trading port for
East-West exchange. The court set up Imperial ateliers
to produce various luxury objects and clocks decorated
in Western techniques. The present clock case exhibits
a rare combination of three different techniques
that were introduced to China from Europe; painted
enamel, basse-taille enamel and cut-glass.
Painted enamels, seen on the unusual lotus base,
were known as ‘foreign enamels’. The technique
was developed in Europe in Flanders at the borders
between Belgium, France and the Netherlands. In
the late fifteenth century the town of Limoges, in
west central France, became the center for enamel
production. As the maritime trade flourished between
East and West, enamels were introduced to China
via Guangzhou in the early Kangxi period. Initially,
due to insufficient technical knowledge, only small
vessels were made, with a limited palette and murky
colors. By the late Kangxi period, a wider range of
brighter and purer colors became available, resulting
in clearer decoration and a higher level of technical
sophistication, and by the Yongzheng and Qianlong
reigns the Chinese artisans had perfected the
technique.

Basse-taille enamel, as seen on the sides and back of
the present clock case, was also introduced to China
from the West. In Tributes from Guandong to the Qing
Court, Hong Kong, 1987, p. 55, Yang Boda notes that
the production of this type of high-fired basse-taille
was limited to Guangzhou. He notes “The most
spectacular pieces are often decorated with gold foil
and set on a dark blue ground. The overall effect is
sumptuous and dazzling.”
Cut-glass embellishment was frequently used
on tribute objects made in Guangzhou, and this
decorative technique was particularly popular on
clocks. For an example of a Qianlong-period clock
decorated with cut-glass borders and motifs, and
basse taille enamel, see ibid, p. 100, no. 84.

畫琺瑯抱月瓶式鐘
抱月瓶外框：清十八/十九世紀