Page 178 - Sotheby's Speelman Collection Oct. 3, 2018

3448

AN EXQUISITE AND RARE 明十五世紀初

SMALL CLOISONNE ENAMEL 掐絲琺瑯番蓮紋如意足小爐
INCENSE BURNER

MING DYNASTY, EARLY 15TH
CENTURY

cast with a gently tapered body supported on three short gilt-
bronze ruyi feet, the exterior decorated in cloisonné enamels
with three large lotus blooms rendered with multi-coloured
petals, each borne on a gilt-bronze undulating stem issuing
red, blue, yellow, white and green leaves and an attendant
lotus bloom, all against a bright turquoise ground
5.7 cm, 2¼ in.
HK$ 700,000-900,000
US$ 89,500-115,000

The quality of the enamelling on this rare small incense burner
is very high. It is conceived in an unusually intricate, baroque
style and executed in a particularly lavish technique. The wires
are used as if in a drawing, not only outlining and enclosing the
colours, but also delineating detail within monochrome cells.
The three lotus blooms are different, composed of variously
rendered and coloured petals. Similarly complex lotus flowers
can be seen on an incense burner from the collections of
Mrs M.J. Shepherd and Frederick Knight, now in the Uldry
collection, illustrated in Brinker & Lutz, Helmut Brinker and
Albert Lutz, Chinese Cloisonné: The Pierre Uldry Collection,
London, 1989 (German edition Zurich, 1985), col. pl. 15, and
sold in our London rooms, 15th June 1982, lot 129.
Compare also the enamelling of the lotus flowers and scrolling
foliage on a cloisonné enamel beaker vase from the Qing
court collection, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing,
illustrated in the Complete Collection of Treasures of the
Palace Museum: Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong,
2002, pl. 25.

176 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比