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Lot Essay
A Rare Imperial Enamelled Cup and Saucer
Rosemary Scott, Senior International Academic Consultant, Asian Art
This very rare high-footed cup has, unusually, been preserved with both its cover and its saucer. All three pieces are made of copper and have been extremely skilfully enamelled using the full range of colours available to 18th century Chinese craftsmen. Two cups and saucers bearing the same design are in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. These bear museum numbers C.39&A-1962 (see https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O40723/cup-and-saucer-unknown/) and C.31&A-1969 (part of the W.E. Clark bequest, see https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O436908/cup-and-saucer-unknown/). Interestingly, while the V&A saucers appear to be identical to the current example – in both size and decoration - the cups are of less elaborate shape. The Victoria and Albert cups have a lower foot and do not have the more everted and dished mouth of the current cup. The dished mouth holds the cover of the current cup in place and it is noteworthy that the Victoria and Albert Museum cups do not have covers. The cover of the current cup complements it particularly well and the gilded finial adds further luxury to an already sumptuous design.
A further saucer of the same size and design from the Mottahedeh Collection was illustrated by J.A. Lloyd Hyde in Chinese Painted Enamels from Private and Museum Collections, New York, 1969, no. 19. This publication dates the saucer, which was formerly in the collection of C.T. Loo, Paris, to the Yongzheng reign (1723-1735), while the Victoria and Albert Museum dates their cups and saucers to 1730-1745 – a period covering the end of the Yongzheng reign and the early years of the Qianlong reign (1736-1795). It is clear that these vessels are of the highest quality and were made when enamel decoration was at its apogee in China. The quality and variety of the enamels themselves and the consummate skill with which they have been painted also mark them out as products of the imperial workshops in Beijing.
The decoration on the current covered cup and saucer, as well as those in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Mottahedeh collection, is European-inspired – from the complex, and beautifully painted, millefleurs borders to the mythological scenes within the decorative panels. A number of the European scenes which appear on Chinese porcelain and metalware are clearly inspired by engravings, and it is likely that this is the case with the design on the current vessels. The main panel depicts the mythological Goddess Cybele, in a chariot drawn by lions, being offered a laurel wreath by a peasant woman. Cybele was a goddess of ancient origins, who is associated with Phrygia in Anatolia, where she appears to already have been regarded as a Mother figure, and in a 6th century BCE inscription is designated matar kubileya, ‘Mother of the Mountain’. Between the 6th and the 4th centuries BCE worship of Cybele spread from Anatolia and Syria to Crete, other Aegean islands, and to mainland Greece. Cybele was worshipped by the Greek population of Alexandria as ‘Mother of the Gods, the Saviour who Hears our Prayers’ and as ‘Mother of the Gods, the Accessible One’. It is interesting to note that these names are similar to those given to the Buddhist deity Avalokitesvara or Guanyin.
Cybele is often depicted with a tympanum or tympanon - a type of frame drum or tambourine, which could be played using the hand or stick. She is also usually accompanied by two lions, either seated on either side of her throne or pulling her chariot, as on the current vessels. According to mythology, these lions were Atalanta and Hippomenes who were turned into lions by the gods as a punishment for desecrating a temple. In the early 3rd century BCE a cult object said to embody Cybele as the Great Mother was removed from Anatolia to Rome and her cult was adopted there. In the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus (63 BCE-14 CE) Cybele was particularly honoured and her temple, which was next to the imperial palace on the Palatine Hill, was restored. In Roman mythology Cybele was known as Magna Mater deorum Idaea (Great Idaean Mother of the Gods).
As is pointed out in an online note from the Victoria and Albert Museum in relation to their similar cup and saucer, despite the origins of their decoration, these vessels were not intended for the western market, but reflected a fascination with European style at the Chinese court – Occidentalism - a counterpart to the vogue for Asian styles which swept Europe. European figures and scenes appear on a number of imperial enamelled wares of the second quarter of the 18th century with metal and with porcelain bases. Panels of this type decorate imperial cloisonne enamel wares preserved in the Chinese imperial collections, such as those illustrated Enamel Ware in the Ming and Ch’ing Dynasties, Taipei, 1999, nos. 37, 38, 40, and 41. European figures also appear in panels on either side of a small porcelain double-gourd vase in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum – 39 – Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong King, 1999, p. 42, no. 35). Finely-painted European genre scenes can also be seen on two fine oval boxes in the collection of Pierre Uldry, illustrated by H. Brinker and A. Lutz in Chinese Cloisonné: The Pierre Uldry Collection, Zurich, New York, London, 1989, no. 288. An exquisite porcelain vase from the collection of Sir Percival David also bears a scene of two European ladies (inv. No. PDF A818, see Illustrated Catalogue of Qing Enamelled Wares in the Percival David Foundation, London, 1991, p. 50). As can be seen on this latter vase, and on the current metal-bodied vessels, the gilding on this group is often of particularly high standard. The current vessels are extremely rare examples of this prestigious group.
Rosemary Scott, Senior International Academic Consultant, Asian Art
This very rare high-footed cup has, unusually, been preserved with both its cover and its saucer. All three pieces are made of copper and have been extremely skilfully enamelled using the full range of colours available to 18th century Chinese craftsmen. Two cups and saucers bearing the same design are in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. These bear museum numbers C.39&A-1962 (see https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O40723/cup-and-saucer-unknown/) and C.31&A-1969 (part of the W.E. Clark bequest, see https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O436908/cup-and-saucer-unknown/). Interestingly, while the V&A saucers appear to be identical to the current example – in both size and decoration - the cups are of less elaborate shape. The Victoria and Albert cups have a lower foot and do not have the more everted and dished mouth of the current cup. The dished mouth holds the cover of the current cup in place and it is noteworthy that the Victoria and Albert Museum cups do not have covers. The cover of the current cup complements it particularly well and the gilded finial adds further luxury to an already sumptuous design.
A further saucer of the same size and design from the Mottahedeh Collection was illustrated by J.A. Lloyd Hyde in Chinese Painted Enamels from Private and Museum Collections, New York, 1969, no. 19. This publication dates the saucer, which was formerly in the collection of C.T. Loo, Paris, to the Yongzheng reign (1723-1735), while the Victoria and Albert Museum dates their cups and saucers to 1730-1745 – a period covering the end of the Yongzheng reign and the early years of the Qianlong reign (1736-1795). It is clear that these vessels are of the highest quality and were made when enamel decoration was at its apogee in China. The quality and variety of the enamels themselves and the consummate skill with which they have been painted also mark them out as products of the imperial workshops in Beijing.
The decoration on the current covered cup and saucer, as well as those in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Mottahedeh collection, is European-inspired – from the complex, and beautifully painted, millefleurs borders to the mythological scenes within the decorative panels. A number of the European scenes which appear on Chinese porcelain and metalware are clearly inspired by engravings, and it is likely that this is the case with the design on the current vessels. The main panel depicts the mythological Goddess Cybele, in a chariot drawn by lions, being offered a laurel wreath by a peasant woman. Cybele was a goddess of ancient origins, who is associated with Phrygia in Anatolia, where she appears to already have been regarded as a Mother figure, and in a 6th century BCE inscription is designated matar kubileya, ‘Mother of the Mountain’. Between the 6th and the 4th centuries BCE worship of Cybele spread from Anatolia and Syria to Crete, other Aegean islands, and to mainland Greece. Cybele was worshipped by the Greek population of Alexandria as ‘Mother of the Gods, the Saviour who Hears our Prayers’ and as ‘Mother of the Gods, the Accessible One’. It is interesting to note that these names are similar to those given to the Buddhist deity Avalokitesvara or Guanyin.
Cybele is often depicted with a tympanum or tympanon - a type of frame drum or tambourine, which could be played using the hand or stick. She is also usually accompanied by two lions, either seated on either side of her throne or pulling her chariot, as on the current vessels. According to mythology, these lions were Atalanta and Hippomenes who were turned into lions by the gods as a punishment for desecrating a temple. In the early 3rd century BCE a cult object said to embody Cybele as the Great Mother was removed from Anatolia to Rome and her cult was adopted there. In the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus (63 BCE-14 CE) Cybele was particularly honoured and her temple, which was next to the imperial palace on the Palatine Hill, was restored. In Roman mythology Cybele was known as Magna Mater deorum Idaea (Great Idaean Mother of the Gods).
As is pointed out in an online note from the Victoria and Albert Museum in relation to their similar cup and saucer, despite the origins of their decoration, these vessels were not intended for the western market, but reflected a fascination with European style at the Chinese court – Occidentalism - a counterpart to the vogue for Asian styles which swept Europe. European figures and scenes appear on a number of imperial enamelled wares of the second quarter of the 18th century with metal and with porcelain bases. Panels of this type decorate imperial cloisonne enamel wares preserved in the Chinese imperial collections, such as those illustrated Enamel Ware in the Ming and Ch’ing Dynasties, Taipei, 1999, nos. 37, 38, 40, and 41. European figures also appear in panels on either side of a small porcelain double-gourd vase in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum – 39 – Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong King, 1999, p. 42, no. 35). Finely-painted European genre scenes can also be seen on two fine oval boxes in the collection of Pierre Uldry, illustrated by H. Brinker and A. Lutz in Chinese Cloisonné: The Pierre Uldry Collection, Zurich, New York, London, 1989, no. 288. An exquisite porcelain vase from the collection of Sir Percival David also bears a scene of two European ladies (inv. No. PDF A818, see Illustrated Catalogue of Qing Enamelled Wares in the Percival David Foundation, London, 1991, p. 50). As can be seen on this latter vase, and on the current metal-bodied vessels, the gilding on this group is often of particularly high standard. The current vessels are extremely rare examples of this prestigious group.