Page 44 - Bonhams May 11th 2017 London Fine Chinese Art
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A FINE SMALL CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL VASE
Incised Qianlong five-character mark and of the period
Colourfully enamelled around the oviform body with two bands of
stylised taotie masks, above and below a narrow band of ‘C’ scrolls,
rising to a tall narrow neck with further ‘C’ scrolls and flower heads.
12cm (4 3/4in) high.

£18,000 - 20,000
CNY160,000 - 170,000

清乾隆 銅胎掐絲琺瑯仿古饕餮紋小瓶
「乾隆年製」、「能」楷書刻款

Driven by the Qianlong emperor’s call for inspiration to be derived from
antiquity, decorative designs on various art media imitated ancient
bronze forms and patterns. This is demonstrated in the present vase
with the brightly enamelled archaic taotie masks.

For related examples of archaic designs on Qianlong period cloisonné
vessels, see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum:
Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, pls.94 and 115.

An additional incised character is occasionally found underneath the
Qianlong four-character mark, as in the present lot, ‘neng’ (ability). The
additional characters can be a single number between one and five; an
auspicious invocation; or an apparent instruction to distinguish the use
and category. However, some scholars have suggested that it could
have been a way to number the large number of objects in a correct
order. See H.Brinker and A.Lutz, Chinese Cloisonné: The Pierre Uldry
Collection, New York, 1989, pp.74-79.

For a related cloisonné enamel vase, Qianlong mark and period, see
B.Quette, Cloisonné: Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing
Dynasties, New York, 2011, p.291.

42 | BONHAMS  For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
              please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.
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