Lot 644
644
A PAIR OF PALE GREY-BLUE CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL FIGURES OF ELEPHANTS
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF DAVID B. PECK III
A PAIR OF PALE GREY-BLUE CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL FIGURES OF ELEPHANTS

19TH CENTURY

Details
A PAIR OF PALE GREY-BLUE CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL FIGURES OF ELEPHANTS
19TH CENTURY
Each standing figure has gilt tusks and is richly caparisoned in separately made trappings, including gilt-copper straps and a removable, fringed cloisonné enamel blanket decorated on each side with a bat suspending a chime below a removable section in the shape of a saddle supporting a vase.
8¾ in. (22.2 cm.) high

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Lot Essay

The elephant is the embodiment of strength, wisdom and intelligence, and the vase represents eternal harmony. The combination of the two conveys the rebus taiping youxiang, 'peaceful times' or 'when there is peace, there are signs'.
A pair of cloisonné enamel caparisoned elephants of a color similar to that of the present pair, which also support a vase, are seen flanking a throne in a photograph of The Eastern Warm Chamber in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, where the Empress Dowager Cixi summoned ministers to audiences, illustrated by Wan Yi et al. in Daily Life in the Forbidden City, New York, 1988, p. 64, pl. 86.

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