Lot 277. A Beijing enamel tripod censer, Yongzheng mark and period (1723-1735). Height 2 3/4  in., 7 cm. Estimate: 30,000-50,000 USD. Sold Price: 118,750 USD. Courtesy Sotheby's

of compressed spherical form, raised on three short, tapered feet, the metal body finely enameled with an elegant floral meander of pink and blue peony blooms borne on sinuous stems issuing twisting green leaves all on a bright yellow ground, the gilt metal rim set with a pair of upright loop handles to either side, the interior turquoise-enameled, the base with a four-character reign mark enameled in red on a white ground within a double square.

Provenance: Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Reginald Toms.
Sotheby's London, 8th June 1995, lot 54. 
Sotheby's New York, 8th September 1996, lot 104. 

Exhibited: Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA.

Note: Exceedingly rare, the present Yongzheng period tripod censer most closely compares to another of the same form, but with peach-form reserves against the yellow-ground peony meander sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 3rd November 1998, lot 1050. See also another closely related censer, but Kangxi period, included in Hugh Moss, By Imperial Command, Hong Kong, 1976, pl. 1. Another Kangxi period example of similar form but lacking handles is illustrated in Sotheby's Hong Kong Twenty Years, 1973-1993, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 416, and sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 21st May 1980, lot 267.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 12 Sep 2018