Page 55 - Sothebys Important Chinese Art 09/13/17

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A RARE FAMILLE-ROSE ALTAR
ORNAMENT
JIAQING SEAL MARK AND PERIOD

modeled as a ‘ aming pearl’ resting on an elaborate
pedestal, the stylized emblem fashioned with a band
of gilt-decorated iron red aming wisps surrounding
multi-colored lappets picked out with circular motifs,
the pedestal elaborately decorated with bands of
petals and foliate lappets, resting atop a multi-
colored post anked by foliate scrolls, all stemming
from a beribboned vase supported on a rounded
stepped foot, delicately rendered in registers with

oral scrolls and petal lappets, the turquoise-
enameled base centered with a six-character seal
mark in iron red reserved in a square (2)
Height 12 in., 30.4 cm

PROVENANCE
Christie’s Paris, 15th December 2010, lot 124 (part
lot).

Porcelain altar ornaments of this type are rare,
although several Qianlong examples are known to
have appeared at auction; for example, see two
Qianlong altar ornaments sold in our London rooms,
one representing the ‘Wheel’, 13th May 2009, lot
201, and the other the ‘Elephant’, 16th May 2007, lot
534; also a related pair consisting of the ‘Elephant’
and the ‘Horse’, was sold at Christie’s London, 8th
June 2004, lot 437; a stand, lacking the top gure,
sold in our London rooms, 6th June 1995, lot 257;
and a pair, representing the ‘Flaming Pearl’, was
o ered in our Hong Kong rooms, 5th October 2016,
lot 106.

A number of sets of the ‘Seven Royal Treasures’
are known in various materials. For example, see a
dark green jade set in the Palace Museum, Beijing,
included in the exhibition China. The Three Emperors
1662-1795, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2005,
cat. no. 45; an enameled gilt-copper set also in the
Palace Museum, Beijing, included in the exhibition
Buddhist Art from Rehol. Tibetan Buddhist Images
and Ritual Objects from the Qing Dynasty Summer
Palace at Chengde, Chang Foundation, Taipei,
1999, cat. no. 69; and a number of sets in a range
of materials, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
are included in A Special Exhibition of Buddhist Gilt
Votive Objects, National Palace Museum, Taipei,
1995, cat. nos 22-26.

$ 50,000-70,000

2010 12 15
124

IMPORTANT CHINESE ART 53