Page 44 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Nov 2014 Hong Kong

Image courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing
This magnificent incense burner epitomises the confidence and
technical supremacy of the high Qing style, with elegant cloisonné
enamel scrolls in vibrant enamels and gilding and triumphantly
trumpeting elephants.
Besides enjoying opulence of the piece, the informed viewer can also
appreciate the variety of influences it embodies. The decoration of the see one incense burner with a reticulated cover, dated to the mid
Eight Buddhist Emblems reflects the 18th century political situation,
as Manchu authority was asserted in Tibet and Mongolia, and the
Qianlong emperor absorbed Buddhist rituals into court practice as
a pragmatic approach to consolidating power, as well as for well-
documented personal interest. On the other hand, the incense burner
also reflects a Chinese love of puns: the elephant, 象 xiang, is a
pun for sign; also 象 xiang, and on the finial the sleeping elephant is
depicted carrying a vase on its back as an expression of the desire
for peace: 太平有象 taiping youxiang. As such, the piece reflects the
cosmopolitanism, pragmatism and personal taste of the Qianlong
emperor.
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Such a large and impressive piece would be most suited to the
grand theatre of one of the imperial throne rooms: see for example
the set of four large incense burners with elephant-head feet in the
Qianqinggong, illustrated in Classics of the Forbidden City: Imperial
Furniture of Ming & Qing Dynasties, Beijing, 2008, no.363. Similar
examples can be seen in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing:
Qing Dynasty, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace
Museum: Enamels 3, Beijing, 2011, no.210; and another slightly
smaller example (59cm high) with raised enamelling, Compendium
of Collections in the Palace Museum: Enamels 3 no.209. Another
example, but with a wider body, is illustrated in Cloisonné Enamels
from the Lin Family Collection, Taipei, 2007, pp.52-57. A related pair
of incense burners, larger even than the present lot but with similar
treatment of the elephant head feet, reputedly from the Yuanmingyuan
and now in the collection of Mr Robert Chang, was exhibited in the
Suzhou Museum in 2008 and illustrated in Colorful, Elegant, and
Exquisite: A Special Exhibition of Imperial Enamel Ware from Mr Robert
Chang’s Collection, Shanghai, 2007, p.2.