Page 129 - Christie's, NYC Important Chinese Works Of Art Sept. 22-23, 2022

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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