Lot 52. A rare pair of gilt-bronze and cloisonné enamel horses, 18th century. Each 10.5cm (4 1/8in) high. Estimate: 80,000 - 120,000 HKD. Sold for HK$ 125,000 (€ 14,883). Photo Bonhams.

Each enamelled in white with black spots over the entire body, encircled by a tasselled trapping suspending bells, the back draped with a colourful saddle and saddle blanket in blue, yellow and red enamels, the head with a blue bridle, gilt wire reins, and a loose bell beneath the neck. 

Note: Cloisonné enamel works of art flourished during the Qing dynasty, with a wide variety of different shapes, sizes and decoration attesting to the high level of artistic creativity and technological prowess craftsmen possessed. Fantastic figures of animals, both real and mythological, were realised and rendered in colourful and superbly modelled forms, often forming a menagerie for decorating sumptuous residences and palaces.

While animal figures of various types of birds, elephants, qilin and Buddhist lions are more typical, cloisonné enamel horses are rare. Horses feature prominently throughout Chinese history and are symbolic of a multitude of auspicious and powerful meanings. Since its domestication in North Eastern China around five thousand years ago, horses were an integral part of military and trade efforts. Military might was measured by the number of horsemen and war chariots, as mobility was an important strategic advantage. Horses were also essential for the transportation of goods and supplies, connecting the Chinese empire with lands further West. Horses were also associated with nobility and academic pursuits, and were often used as symbols of the scholar as shown in paintings.

Compare an almost identical pair of cloisonné enamel horses, formerly in the collection of Henry M.Knight, illustrated in Bluett and Sons Ltd., Chinese Decorative Arts, London, 1974, fig.77. A related rare pair of famille verte models of horses, Kangxi, was sold in our London rooms, 17 May 2012, lot 374.