A rare cloisonné enamel ‘qin’ wrist rest, Qing dynasty - Sotheby's

of qin shape, the arched body resting on four bracket feet, brightly enamelled against a turquoise diaper ground with a bird perched on a gnarled stem issuing leafy magnolia and crabapple blossoms, the left terminal with a shou medallion, the top nut and tail piece with stylised floral scrolls against a dark blue ground, encircled by further floral scrolls around the sides, the base similarly decorated with a four-character Qianlong mark within a medallion and a mark readingZhiyuan Tang within a rectangle against a diaper ground; 34.2cm., 13 1/2 in. Estimation: 10,000 - 15,000 GBP

PROVENANCE: Purchased in France, 1969.

NOTE: It is unusual to find wrist rests made from cloisonné enamel and this piece is particularly notable for the elegant depiction of the favoured scholarly motif of the bird and flower. In its form the present wrist rest is modelled after Tang and Song dynasty qin called fuxi qin. Wrist rests of this form are commonly known carved from wood; for example see one from the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat collection, with an inscription running down the centre, attributed to Guo Shangxian (1785-1833), sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 4th April 2012, lot 121; and another included in the Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong exhibition Arts of the Scholar’s Studio, Fung Ping Shan Museum, Hong Kong, 1986, cat. no. 86, which also includes a detailed discussion of the fuxi qin, p. 174. Another example of an object for the scholar’s desk in the form of a qin, but made to be used as a paperweight, is the zitan piece with a small drawer setinto each end, included ibid., pl. 224.

The Zhiyuan Tang is a famous cloisonné enamel workshop of the Qing period; for another vessel with this same mark see a miniature brushpot decorated with a trompe l’oeil ribbon, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published on the Museum’s website http://www.dpm.org.cn/shtml/117/@/8080.html.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. London | 15 mai 2013, www.sothebys.com