Page 221 - Bonhams May 12 16 London

205 The design, shape and decorative motifs of items made for foreign
A RARE PAINTED ENAMEL RECTANGULAR CASKET FOR THE markets were influenced by the specific demands and tastes of
MIDDLE EASTERN MARKET the clients in those regions. Objects produced for the Middle East
18th century and particularly the Armenian market, such as the present lot, have
Meticulously and densely enamelled with interlocking arabesques in their own characteristic features. See L.Mengoni, Reaching Foreign
red, blue, yellow and green against a white ground, the interior white, Markets: Chinese Painted Enamels for Export, London, 2014, p.42,
with an illegible inscription to the interior. where Mengoni notes that ‘Several enamelled objects found in the
17.7cm (7in) wide Middle East were decorated with inscriptions in Arabic or Armenian.’

£8,000 - 12,000 CNY73,000 - 110,000 The present lot with floral motifs against a white ground is reminiscent
HK$88,000 - 130,000 of the style and palette found on some 16th century Iznik tiles found
in the Topkapi Sarai, illustrated by J.Rawson, Chinese Ornament: The
十八世紀 外銷銅胎畫琺瑯卷草花卉紋方蓋盒 Lotus and the Dragon, London, 1984, p.188-189. The present lot also
echoes elements of Persian carpets, in particular the medallions and
lotus patterns on the Ardebil carpet, see Ibid, pl.6.

FINE CHINESE ART | 219