Lot 212. A rare cloisonné enamel tripod incense burner and a cover, ding, Qianlong period (1736-1795). Overall 34.5cm (13 1/2in) high. Estimate £ 20,000-30,000. Sold for £ 50,000 (€ 57,100). Courtesy Bonhams.

Superbly enamelled, flanked at the sides by a pair of upright bracket handles, the main band of the body decorated with geometric strapwork patterns alternating with gilt round bosses, above a wide frieze of gui dragons and blades enclosing lotus blooms and foliage, the cover with further strapwork designs below bands of ruyi heads and lappets surrounding a gilt-metal openwork finial decorated with a four-clawed dragon writhing amongst vaporous clouds.

Provenance: a European private collection and thence by descent.

Note: The form and the decorations of the present lot have been inspired by archaic bronzes from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The shape of the vessel derives from food vessels,ding used in ritual ceremonies during the Zhou dynasty; whilst stylised gui dragon are popularly seen as decorative motives on archaic bronze vessels as early as the Shang dynasty.

The Qianlong emperor actively admired the simplicity of archaic forms and decorative motifs used in antiquity. Instructions and orders were given by the emperor, who would monitor and comment on designs submitted by the court craftsmen. His personal taste and preference strongly influenced the art productions of the period, as seen in the present lot.

Compare with a related cloisonné enamel tripod incense burner and cover, gui, Qianlong, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, museum no.13-1894. A further example, mid-Qing dynasty, is illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Enamels 3, Cloisonné in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Beijing, 2011, pl.187.