Page 85 - Chiense works of art sothebys march 14 2017 nyc

could not reach him (see the catalogue to the exhibition China.
The Three Emperors 1662-1795, Royal Academy of Arts,
London, 2005, pl. 445). This pair is also particularly unusual
as they are cast to simulate vases on stands thus falling in the
category of trompe-l’oeil. Simulations that were often di cult
to distinguish from the ‘real’ were created during the Qianlong
reign, and often under his personal supervision, to cater to his
penchant for novel and amusing pieces.

Champlevé wall vases are rare, although a pair of double-
gourd wall vases decorated with bajixiang and auspicious
characters, from the collection of Robert H. and Clarice Smith,
was sold at Christie’s New York, 15th December 2011, lot 1172.
Compare also large double-gourd vases similarly decorated in
champlevé enamel with scrolling gourds; one in the Shenyang
Palace Museum, Shenyang, illustrated in Imperial Life in the
Qing Dynasty. The Empress Palace, Singapore, 1989, pp 18
and 19; one sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 23rd October 2005,
lot 403; another sold in our Los Angeles rooms, 5th March
1981, lot 1122; a fourth vase with a Qianlong mark and of the
period, sold at Christie’s London, 15th May 2007, lot 170; and
a pair, sold at Christie’s New York, 28th October 1977, lot 223.
A further large double-gourd vase, but decorated in cloisonné
enamels with bronze gourds in relief, in the Palace Museum,
Beijing, is illustrated in The Compendium of Collections in the
Palace Museum. Enamels, vol. 3, Cloisonné in the Qing Dynasty,
Beijing, 2011, pl. 160.