CHINE, DYNASTIE QING, XIXEME SIECLE

Details

PAIRE D'ELEPHANTS EN CUIVRE DORE ET EMAUX CLOISONNES
CHINE, DYNASTIE QING, XIXEME SIECLE
Représentés debout, caparaçonnés, la tête tournée vers la droite, le détail de la peau lâche de l'animal souligné par des stries dorées sur fond blanc, un tapis orné d'un caractère shou central, nuages et chauve-souris et frangé de pompons posé sur le dos et recouvert d'une étoffe lobée rehaussée de lotus sur fond noir, le harnachement émaillé bleu agrémenté de fleurs, chaque animal monté par un cornac, l'un assis en prière, l'autre agenouillé richement vêtu et coiffé d'un casque ; restaurations
Hauteurs: 40 cm. (15¾ in.) (2)

Provenance

Sotheby's Monaco, 13 February 1983, lot 370.
Bluett & Sons Ltd., London, 17 February 1983.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT payable at 19.6% (5.5% for books) will be added to the buyer’s premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Further details

A PAIR OF CLOISONNE ELEPHANTS AND MAHOUTS
CHINA, QING DYNASTY, 19TH CENTURY

Lot Essay

The elephant was the embodiment of strength, wisdom and intelligence. In addition, the white elephant is the animal that is said to have appeared to the historical Buddha's mother in a dream before he was born.
Most of the time represented with vases on their back, they were usually placed each side of a throne.
Compare the similar single cloisonné enamel elephant from the Qianlong period with elaborate stand illustrated in Masterpieces of Chinese Enamel Ware in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, pl.29.
See also a pair of white elephants illustrated in Helmut Brinker and Albert Lutz, Chinesisches Cloisonné, Die Sammlung Pierre Uldry, Museum Rietberg 1985, pl.332.

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