Page 360 - Bonhams Chinese Art London May 2013

328 The magnificent large incense burner and
A large rare cloisonné enamel ‘phoenix’
incense burner and cover
Qianlong
The rounded body superbly enamelled with
three round cartouches containing shou
characters each surrounded by a pair of pink
and red bats in flight and alternating with
a single large fully-blossoming lotus flower
surrounded by delicate light and mid-green
scrollwork issuing smaller blue and white
blossoms leading down to a six-petalled flower
on the underside, all raised on three curved legs
issuing from fierce fanged animal heads, the
body flanked by a pair of magnificent phoenix
handles, each enamelled on the body with
archaistic scrolls issuing gilded wings, the head
turned to look outwards and clutching the bowl
gilded claws, the domed cover enamelled with
four ruyi-head lappets each containing a bat
and lotus scroll between reticulated spaces with
further lotus and scrollwork, all surmounted by
a pointed finial enamelled with palmettes and
scrolls on a gilt lotus pedestal topped with three The Qing Court Collection in the Palace
gilt leaves opening to support a smooth gilt
knop, wood stand.
50.8cm (20in) high (3).
£80,000 - 120,000
HK$940,000 - 1,400,000
CNY750,000 - 1,100,000
清乾隆 掐絲琺瑯蝠壽纏枝蓮紋雙鳳凰耳三足
蓋爐
Provenance: Anderson Galleries, New York,
1 April 1937, lot 117
Lewis N. Cotlow (1898-1987), New York
and Florida
The Cincinnati Museum Center
來源：紐約Anderson Galleries，1937年4月1
日，拍品編號117
Lewis N. Cotlow (1898-1987)舊藏，紐約及佛
羅里達州
辛辛那提博物館
356 | Bonhams
cover is a superb example of Qing Dynasty
cloisonne enamel craftsmanship at its zenith,
achieved during the Qianlong period. The
form and design encapsulate both tradition
and innovation: in its form drawing on archaic
bronze food vessels, the auspicious design
combining the five bats (wufu), Shou character
and ruyi heads, symbolising the five wishes
and longevity, the Buddhist lotus scrolls and
the butterflies, implying reincarnation; all
below the exceptional pomegranate finial,
symbolising fertility and the wish for continuity,
flanked by the colourful phoenix handles,
symbolic of the Empress.
The symbolism of the present incense burner
in form and design, suggests that it was very
possibly a special commission for the furnishing
of one of the Imperial residences of the
Empress, whose duty it was to provide an heir
and continuity of the family line.
Museum, Beijing, includes several other
examples of variously designed phoenix-
handled cloisonne enamel incense burners and
covers. These are adorned with various finials,
including dragon and lotus blossom. However,
other incense burners in the collection are
adorned with stylised pomegranate shaped
finials; see Zheng Xinmiao, ed., Compendium
of Collections in the Palace Museum: Enamels
3 - Cloisonne Enamel in the Qing Dynasty
(1644-1911), Beijing, 2011, pls.197 and 206.