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Lot Essay
With its bejewelled elephant-head feet, the present jardiniere derives from Chinese Imperial censers and incense braziers manufactured by the Imperial Cloisonné Workshops for the Beijing Palace. The use of elephant heads can be traced as far back as the fifteenth century: the National Palace Museum, Taipei holds in their collection a censer bearing a mark from the Xuande reign (1426-35), with feet modelled as elephants balancing on their rolled trunks (illustrated A Special Exhibition of Incense Burners and Perfumers Throughout the Dynasties, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1994, p. 199, no. 54). Censers on gilded elephants also remain at the foot of the steps leading up to the Imperial throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony within the Forbidden City (illustrated La Cité interdite: vie publique et privée des empereurs de Chine, p. 9, fig. 6).
The elephant feet on the present jardinere are closely related to those featured on a pair of incense braziers from the Qianlong period (1736-95) formerly in the Kitson Collection and sold from the C. Ruxton and Audrey B. Love Collection, Christie's, New York, 20 October 2004, lot 354 ($1,239,500 with premium). Currently in the Robert Chang Collection, the pair - which are believed to have come from the Winter Palace, Beijing - is ilustrated in the exhibition catalogue Colourful, Elegant, and Exquisite - A Special Exhibition of Imperial Enamel Ware From Mr Robert Chang's Collection, Suzhou, 2007, p. 2.
A censer also from the Qianlong period with similar bejewelled elephant feet sold Christie's, Hong Kong, 27 May 2008, lot 1542 ($3,847,500 HKD with premium).
The word elephant in Chinese is a pun for 'sign' (xiang), pronounced and written in exactly the same way. In Chinese designs, the phrase 'When there is peace, there are signs' (taiping youxiang) is represented by an elephant carrying a vase (ping) on its back as a pun for 'peace' (taiping). The present jardinere most probably plays on these traditions of verbal puns; correspondingly, in prints celebrating the New Year, an elephant supporting a jardinere with an evergreen plant represents spring and renewal.
The elephant feet on the present jardinere are closely related to those featured on a pair of incense braziers from the Qianlong period (1736-95) formerly in the Kitson Collection and sold from the C. Ruxton and Audrey B. Love Collection, Christie's, New York, 20 October 2004, lot 354 ($1,239,500 with premium). Currently in the Robert Chang Collection, the pair - which are believed to have come from the Winter Palace, Beijing - is ilustrated in the exhibition catalogue Colourful, Elegant, and Exquisite - A Special Exhibition of Imperial Enamel Ware From Mr Robert Chang's Collection, Suzhou, 2007, p. 2.
A censer also from the Qianlong period with similar bejewelled elephant feet sold Christie's, Hong Kong, 27 May 2008, lot 1542 ($3,847,500 HKD with premium).
The word elephant in Chinese is a pun for 'sign' (xiang), pronounced and written in exactly the same way. In Chinese designs, the phrase 'When there is peace, there are signs' (taiping youxiang) is represented by an elephant carrying a vase (ping) on its back as a pun for 'peace' (taiping). The present jardinere most probably plays on these traditions of verbal puns; correspondingly, in prints celebrating the New Year, an elephant supporting a jardinere with an evergreen plant represents spring and renewal.