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THE TIBOR COLLECTION, PART II
A VERY LARGE PAIR OF CRANES
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
Details
A VERY LARGE PAIR OF CRANES
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
Modeled with heads cocked above their long, elegant necks, the beady eyes encircled in yellow, their legs glazed green
19 ¾ in. (50.1 cm.) high, each
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
Modeled with heads cocked above their long, elegant necks, the beady eyes encircled in yellow, their legs glazed green
19 ¾ in. (50.1 cm.) high, each
Provenance
A direct descendant of George Widener, Philadelphia.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 23 January 2012, lot 446.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 23 January 2012, lot 446.
Literature
Cranes have long symbolized longevity in China; in the 18th century the Qing Imperial household commissioned numerous paintings of cranes, either alone or alongside members of the ruling family. Among those paintings preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, are Shen Quan's (1682-1760) hanging scroll, Pine, Plum and Cranes, dated by inscription to AD 1759, and Yu Xing's (1692-after 1767) hanging scroll, Cranes against Sky and Waters, c.1747, which bears an inscription by the Qianlong Emperor and twelve Qianlong seals. Porcelain cranes, difficult to model and fire and expensive to ship, were made for the high end China Trade, particularly in the Qianlong period, and highly fashionable with the Western elite.
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Becky MacGuire