AN UNUSUAL CHINESE CLOISONNE ENAMEL TWO-HANDLED BASIN

LATE MING DYNASTY, FIRST HALF 17TH CENTURY

Details

AN UNUSUAL CHINESE CLOISONNE ENAMEL TWO-HANDLED BASIN
LATE MING DYNASTY, FIRST HALF 17TH CENTURY
The center decorated with a scene of a canopied boat with a table set with a wine ewer and cups floating in a lake below a phoenix in flight, with a pavilion and blue rock formations in the distance and a pine tree growing from rocks in the foreground, within a band of foliate scroll, all below a frieze of horses jumping above froth-capped waves between further blue rocks in the deep, upright sides of the well, the exterior and base decorated with lotus scroll; the key-fret-decorated gilt-bronze rims and pair of foliate handles probably of later date
21 1/8 in. (53.7 cm.) across handles

Lot Essay

It is more usual to see a scene of this type on large rectangular panels of the period, such as those illustrated by H. Brinker and A. Lutz, Chinese Cloisonné: The Pierre Uldry Collection, The Asia Society, New York, 1989, nos. 147 - 153. No. 50, especially, has similar mountains and depiction of the water, as do nos. 147, 148 and 152. All are dated to the first half 17th Century. A similar depiction of water can be seen on an anonymous hanging scroll dated to the mid-16th century illustrated by C. Clunas, Art in China, Oxford, 1997, p. 180, pl. 97.

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