A rare Imperial enamelled gold-bodied cupstand Qing dynasty, Qianlong-Jiaqing period - Sotheby's

the shallow rounded sides rising from a hollow base to a broad everted rim, cast in the centre with a raised stand to support a cup and finely enamelled on the gold body, the central recessed ring with an open bloom on a turquoise ground, encircled by petal lappets on the exterior walls, the well with a turquoise band enclosing a garland of alternating pink and blue petalled florets, the rim decorated with four turquoise-ground lobed lotus panels, all against a deep purplish-blue ground dressed with densely foliate lotus scrolls, the underside similarly enamelled with peony scrolls against a dark purplish-blue ground, save for the hollow base applied with a thick white enamel and pierced with five small apertures, the rims left in plain solid gold; 20.5 cm., 8 1/8  in. The gold tested as 18K. Estimation: 1,000,000 - 1,200,000 HKD - Lot. Vendu 1,840,000 HKD

NOTE: This cupstand is unusual for the body which has been cast from gold. Several Qianlong marked gold-bodied cupstands from the Qing court collection, and still in Beijing, are illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, pls. 204-206. See also ibid., pl. 243, for an unmarked bronze-bodied Jiaqing cupstand with a decoration related to the present piece. A Beijing enamel goldbodied cup of the Jiaqing reign was sold in these rooms, 26th October 2003, lot 20.

Cupstands of this type were more commonly enamelled on bronze bodies and appear to have been introduced to the Qing court during the reign of Kangxi. A Kangxi marked enamelled bronze-bodied cup and cupstand, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the Museum's exhibition Emperor Kangxi and the Sun King Louis XIV, 2nd October 2011 - 3rd January 2012, no. IV-32. Compare also a Yongzheng mark and period example, similarly decorated with floral scrolls and additional shou medallions, sold in these rooms, 29th November 1978, lot 440. For a Qianlong mark and period example, see one sold in these rooms, 30th November 1980, lot 587.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. Hong Kong | 08 avr. 2013 - www.sothebys.com