A RARE IMPERIAL BEIJING ENAMEL 'EUROPEAN SUBJECT' TRIPOD WASHER

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A RARE IMPERIAL BEIJING ENAMEL 'EUROPEAN SUBJECT' TRIPOD WASHER
BLUE ENAMEL QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER MARK IN A DOUBLE SQUARE AND OF THE PERIOD

Of cylindrical form set on three spherical feet, finely enamelled with two panels of European subject depicting a mother and child and a young couple respectively, set in scenic landscape settings, separated by blue medallions and reserved on a stylized floral ground, between two gilt bronze bands cast with lotus meanders, the interior turquoise (minor repair)
2 1/8 in. (5.5 cm.) high, box

Lot Essay

Compare with an enamelled zhadou in the National Palace Museum, Taibei, decorated with European landscape panels reserved on a similar yellow ground embellished with a tight pink scroll illustrated in Great National Treasures of China, Catalogue, pl. 97 and with an enamelled barrel-shaped jar of related form decorated with European ladies within shaped panels illustrated as pl. 85.

In his discussion on enamels produced in the Imperial workshops, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, Hugh Moss notes that there is an interesting distinction between the way European and Chinese subjects were painted, p. 281, "European subjects were invariably created with an illusionistic impression of three-dimensionality built up by careful shading or stippling. Chinese subjects were often outlined confidently in the more linear style of the Chinese tradition of painting."

(US$18,000-24,000)

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