Page 128 - Christie's, NYC Important Chinese Works Of Art Sept. 22-23, 2022
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THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN
          813
          A MAGNIFICENT AND VERY RARE PAIR OF LARGE CLOISONNÉ
          ENAMEL PANELS
          QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
          One panel is decorated with a stag and a doe grazing beneath a cypress tree
          intertwined with wisteria, with a four-character inscription on the upper right
          corner reading bai lu yong shou (cypress, deer, eternal longevity). The other
          panel is decorated with a pair of cranes beneath a pine tree with lingzhi against a
          background of craggy mountains, with a four-character inscription on the upper
          left corner reading song he chang chun (pine, crane, long spring). Each panel is
          decorated on the back in ink and color on paper with two large characters with bats
          and auspicious emblems, one reading hong xi (vast happiness) and the other ying
          xiang (welcome auspiciousness).
          Framed: 54º x 28¿ in. (137.8 x 71.4 cm.), zitan frames  (2)
          $150,000-250,000
          PROVENANCE:
          The Collection of Jerome C. Neuhoff; Sotheby’s New York, 25 January 1986, lot 24.
          清乾隆 掐絲琺瑯「柏鹿永壽」「松隺長春」圖屏一對
          來源:
          Jerome C. Neuhoff珍藏; 紐約蘇富比, 1986年1月25日, 拍品編號 24

          This spectacular pair of panels is exceptional for their massive size, masterful
          craftsmanship and the large-scale depictions of the deer and cranes within their
          landscape settings. Typically in cloisonné enamel wares, the figural subjects
          occupy a smaller space within a more vast landscape, as seen on the Qianlong-
          period double-sided panel of much smaller size decorated on one side with
          cranes in a landscape with pine trees in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris,
          illustrated in Cloisonné, Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties,
          New York, 2011, p. 289, no 125 (side b). The large size of the deer and cranes and
          the tight cropping of the landscapes of the present panels enhance the dramatic
          visual impact and the sense of monumentality.
          Panels, either as floor/table screens or wall-hangings, rendered in cloisonné
          enamel worked particularly well with scenes of mountainous landscapes, and
          were very popular during the Qianlong period. Such luxurious furnishings
          provided viewing enjoyment for the emperor and his concubines within the
          living halls of the palace complex. The choice of subject usually represented
          some kind of auspicious meaning. Deer and cranes symbolize long life, as they
          are both companions of Shoulao, the God of Longevity. Deer are known to live
          for a long time and are believed to be the only animals that can find the fungus
          of immortality, lingzhi, clusters of which are shown growing on the trunk of the
          pine tree in the panel decorated with cranes. In addition, the Chinese word for
          ‘deer’, lu, sounds like the word for ‘emolument’ or an official salary, and thus
          deer are symbolic of the rank and wealth that are associated with such a salary.
          The inclusion of cypress trees reinforces this wish since the Chinese word for
          ‘cypress’, bai (or bo), provides a rebus for ‘one hundred’, and the combination
          of deer and cypress suggest the wish bailing shilu (May you attain old age and
          continue to receive emolument). Finally, pairs of animals, in this case a pair of
          deer and a pair of cranes, can also symbolize a married couple. Taken together
          with the pine tree, which is an evergreen, they form the rebus helu tongchun (May
          the couple be forever young).

          A champlevé enamel floor screen dated to the Qianlong period and featuring
          similar treatment of the pine trees, rocks and ground accented with sparse
          patches of grass, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Metal-Bodied
          Ware – 43 – The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong
          Kong 2002, p. 140, no. 135, and again in The Complete Collection of Ming and
          Qing Furniture in the Palace Museum, vol. 19, Screen, Beijing, 2015, pp. 272-
          75, no. 89. Also illustrated, pp. 70-1, no. 22, is a xichi table screen inset with a
          cloisonnéenamel panel decorated with a similar scene of a pair of cranes amidst
          pine in a mountainous landscape.
          This decorative style originated from bird and flower paintings of the early Qing
          period, and was made popular by artists such as Shen Quan (1682-1760). An
          example of Shen Quan's painting in the Phoenix Art Museum, depicting a pair
          of cranes standing on a gnarled pine tree, is illustrated in Cloisonné, Chinese
          Enamels from the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, op. cit., p. 143, fig. 7.26.
                                                                            (reverse of each)






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