A rare pair of gilt-copper and cloisonné enamel figures of recumbent deer, Qianlong period (1736-1795)

17 septembre 2018

A rare pair of gilt-copper and cloisonné enamel figures of recumbent deer, Qianlong period (1736-1795)

Lot 1215. A rare pair of gilt-copper and cloisonné enamel figures of recumbent deer, Qianlong period (1736-1795); 9 ¾ in. (24.8 cm.) long. Estimate USD 60,000 - USD 80,000. Price realised USD 150,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2018

Each deer is shown recumbent on a cloisonné enamel ‘cloth’ decorated with diaper pattern within a key-fret border that is draped over a stand, and is shown with head turned to the side as it grasps a sprig of enameled lingzhi in its mouth. The antlers arch gracefully forward over the pricked ears and the coat, with fine hair markings, is inlaid with florets and spots of lapis lazuli, turquoise and white color. Rising from the back is gilt-copper vapor below a bed of lotus petals that supports a ribbon-tied cloisonnéenamel double-gourd vase decorated with wan emblems, shou characters and lotus sprays, lacquered softwood stands.

Provenance: The Chinese Porcelain Company, New York.
Khalil R. Rizk Collection, New York.

Literature: The Chinese Porcelain Company, Chinese Works of Art and Snuff Bottles, New York, 1994, pp. 26-7, no. 20.

Exhibited: New York, The Chinese Porcelain Company, Chinese Works of Art and Snuff Bottles, 1 - 24 June 1994.

Note: The depiction of the deer with a double gourd on its back is unusual, as the double gourd is more commonly found on the back of elephant figures in the 18th century. However another example of an 18th-century cloisonné figure of a recumbent animal with a vase on its back (in this case a qilin), from the Speelman Collection, Qianlong mark and period, was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 3 April 2018, lot 3463.

Formely in the Collection of Ann and Gordon Getty & from the Speelman Collection. An exceptional and rare cloisonné enamel 'Qilin' Zun vase, Mark and Period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 17.3 cm, 6 3/4 in. Sold for 3,240,000 HKD at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 3 April 2018, lot 3463. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the mythical animal recumbent with the tail curled alongside its rear haunches, its bridled head well-cast with a single gilt horn, slightly raised and turned characteristically over the back, elaborately caparisoned and supporting on its back a baluster vase decorated with lotus sprays against a turquoise ground, its body brightly enamelled in sage-green accentuated with gilt 'fur' and florets, the forehead with a gilt-bronze rectangle cast in intaglio with a four-character reign mark. Estimate 2,500,000 — 3,500,000 HKD

Christie's Hong Kong, 28th April 1996, lot 19.
Collection of Ann and Gordon Getty.

Note: Cloisonné enamel representations of exotic mythical beasts rank amongst the highest quality of all Imperial enamel workmanship created for the Qianlong court. The current example, majestically modelled in the form of a qilin with an auspicious zun saddled on its back, is a superb example in a dynamic posture, skilfully depicting the bristling lifelike quality and impending movement of the figure. The enamelling of the figure is of exceptional quality, skilfully modelled and enamelled in brilliant cloisons, with no expense spared to the lavish gilding throughout. It is especially notable for the rare four-character mark, intricately cast in intaglio and skilfully incorporated into the noseband of the bridle.

Only a small number of Qianlong cloisonné enamel animal-form vessels of this quality is preserved in museum collections. The closest related example from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing is a cockerel-form vase supporting a zun and resting on elaborate wheels, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, no. 122. It has the more commonly found mark incised in a cartouche on the underside.

Compare also a figure of a mythical beast (tianlu) similarly cast with a zun on its back in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, incised under the body with a four-character Qianlong mark, illustrated in Enamel Ware in the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1999, no. 43. For other Qianlong cloisonné enamel reign-marked animal figures of similar quality sold at auction, see the crouching tiger from the collection of General Charles George Gordon, sold at Christie's London, 5th December 1994, lot 259 and again at Sotheby's London, 9th November 2011, lot 400, from the collection of Sir Peter Moores, and a pair of duck-form ewers from the collection of Juan Jose Amezaga, sold at Christie’s Paris, 13th June 2007, lot 24.

For an unmarked cloisonne enamel figure of a qilin attributed to the Qianlong period, see the example in the collection of the Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, illustrated in Beatrice Quette ed., Cloisonne: Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, New York, 2011, p. 278, cat. no. 107.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 13 - 14 September 2018