Page 78 - March 17 2017 Chinese Art NYC, Christies
P. 78
1055
1055 THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
A CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL ‘SHOULAO AND
DEER’ CENSER AND COVER ~1056
A LARGE ZITAN-FRAMED INSCRIBED CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL PLAQUE WITH
18TH-19TH CENTURY THREE SHEEP
The deer with gilt antlers is shown with head TONGZHI-GUANGXU PERIOD (1862-1908)
turned to the side. Its brownish-black coat is The plaque depicts a group of two adult sheep, one suckling a lamb, within a rocky landscape below
decorated with red and white prunus forets, and calligraphy in the upper section, all in imitation of a scroll painting by the Qianlong Emperor, with various
the back is covered with an hexagonal cell-pattern seals including Tiandi yijia chun. The blue sky is of ‘cracked-ice’ pattern and the plaque is set within a zitan
saddlecloth. The separately modeled fgure of frame carved with eight tasseled Daoist objects on the sides and square spirals at each corner.
Shoulao sits sideways on the back of the deer, 38 Ω in. (97.8 cm.) high, 21 √ in. (55.6 cm.) wide
smiling beneath his long beard and wearing a
long blue robe enameled in yellow with the Eight $8,000-12,000
Trigrams, bagua, and holding out both hands in
blessing. The motif of the three sheep refers to an auspicious start to the New Year, and originates
13 in. (33 cm.) high in the ancient Book of Changes. The composition of the present lot appears to be
an imitation of a painting by the Qianlong Emperor dated 1772, now in the collection
$10,000-15,000 of the National Palace Museum in Taipei (ref.000762N000000000). The inscription
that appears on the painting and the present panel is an essay written by the Qianlong
PROVENANCE Emperor in the same year, discussing auspiciousness during the New Year celebration.
The Qianlong painting is itself a response to a painting by the Ming Emperor Xuande
Christie’s London, 5 April 2000, lot 134. (1426-1435) and also follows a similar group by Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), a
Jesuit painter at the Qing court.
清十八/十九世紀 掐絲琺瑯壽老騎鹿香爐
清同治/光緒 紫檀框掐絲琺瑯三陽開泰圖插屏 「天地一家春」款
1056 (seals)
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