Page 102 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art Nov 2013 London

79 The deer (鹿 lu) is a popular pun in Chinese art for ‘emolument’ or
A rare cloisonné enamel deer and stand ‘official salary’ (祿 lu) and therefore suggests the ultimate prize of a
Qianlong/Jiaqing career within the civil service of Imperial China. Furthermore, the deer
The elegant beast enamelled in a soft brown tone with rows of white is associated with Daoism and the God of longevity, Shoulao, and
spots, the gilt wire suggesting the pelt of the deer, the charming face as the only creature able to search out the lingzhi fungus, it is further
looking slightly to the right with ears pricked up, the left foreleg raised symbolic of longevity.
at the knee, the belly hollow with a ruyi-shaped border around the Compare a related pair of cloisonné enamel deer and vase models,
opening. mid-Qing Dynasty, illustrated by Zheng Xinmiao, ed., in Compendium
42cm (16½in) long (2). of Collections in the Palace Museum: Enamels - Cloisonné in the
£6,000 - 8,000 Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), vol.4, Beijing, 2011, pl.83. See also a
HK$75,000 - 100,000 CNY59,000 - 79,000 related cloisonné enamel recumbent deer, Qianlong, in the Musée
清乾隆/嘉慶 掐絲琺瑯斑鹿像 des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, illustrated by B.Quette, ed., in Cloisonné:
Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, New
York, 2011, p.278, pl.106.

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