QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

Details

A MAGNIFICENT AND LARGE PAIR OF CHINESE CLOISONNE ENAMEL HAWKS
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
The naturalistically modelled birds cast standing with their heads turned to one side, with long tails and wings tucked over their backs, the white bodies covered with finely detailed feathers of varying patterns
12 in. (30.5 cm) high

Provenance

Private English Collection, assembled in the 1950s and 1960s.
Sotheby's London, 15 October 1968, lot 29.

Special notice

This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

Falconry enjoyed imperial patronage in China for millennia where hawks were prized for their strength, intelligence, and hunting skills. On his travels to China in the 13th century, Marco Polo noted that Kublai Khan had a great passion for the sport employing 10,000 falconers. Falconry was practiced widely across Central and East Asia, India, Pakistan, the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf. During the Middle Ages, the sport was brought back to Europe by returning merchants, adventurers and crusaders.

In China, there are many cultural references to hawks and falcons in literature, poems and paintings. Models of the birds can also be found in porcelain and, more rarely, in cloisonne enamel. It is particularly unusual to find a pair of hawks in cloisonne enamel with a white ground. A single Qianlong period white-ground cloisonné enamel hawk is in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, inv. no. 64-29/2. A turquoise-ground cloisonne enamel hawk of similar form, size and date was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 May 2008, lot 1874.

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