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Lot Essay
An identical clock in mirror image to the present lot is illustrated in Clocks of Qianlong Period, Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, Tokyo, 1988.
Ornately embellished figures of elephants made from various media were found in halls and throne rooms throughout the Imperial palaces. As such, it is not surprising that an elephant has been used as decoration on a clock. The imagery of an elephant supporting a vase on its back forms the auspicious rebus, Daping Jingxian or Daping Youxian, conveying the message of peace and harmony. Compare the present soapstone elephant with a spinach-green jade one, also dated from the 18th century, standing foursquare on a French ormolu base, and from the Estate of Empress Friedrich, Schloss Friedrichshof, included in the exhibition Chinese Jade, Spink London, 1998, lot 23; with a Qianlong-period celadon jade elephant richly caparisoned with a gilt and enamel-inset harness and saddle supporting a pagoda surmount on its back, offered in these Rooms, 29 April 2002, lot 532; and with enamel and gilt-bronze examples in the Yangxindian, the Hall of Cultivating Harmony, where the Emperor received his officials, illustrated in Palaces of the Forbidden City, Hong Kong, 1986, pls. 78-79.
Imperial automaton musical clocks were also made in the Imperial workshops in the Yangxindian in Beijing, as well as in Guangzhou. The skilled clockmakers produced clocks in all sorts of shapes and employed a variety of media. The present lot is perhaps one of the most flamboyant examples of the Chinese craftsman's newly acquired skills. It may be compared to several British clocks embellished with naturalistically rendered gilt-metal elephants supporting the clocks on their backs, illustrated in Timepieces Collected by Qing Emperors in the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, p. 86, 163, and p. 169.
Ornately embellished figures of elephants made from various media were found in halls and throne rooms throughout the Imperial palaces. As such, it is not surprising that an elephant has been used as decoration on a clock. The imagery of an elephant supporting a vase on its back forms the auspicious rebus, Daping Jingxian or Daping Youxian, conveying the message of peace and harmony. Compare the present soapstone elephant with a spinach-green jade one, also dated from the 18th century, standing foursquare on a French ormolu base, and from the Estate of Empress Friedrich, Schloss Friedrichshof, included in the exhibition Chinese Jade, Spink London, 1998, lot 23; with a Qianlong-period celadon jade elephant richly caparisoned with a gilt and enamel-inset harness and saddle supporting a pagoda surmount on its back, offered in these Rooms, 29 April 2002, lot 532; and with enamel and gilt-bronze examples in the Yangxindian, the Hall of Cultivating Harmony, where the Emperor received his officials, illustrated in Palaces of the Forbidden City, Hong Kong, 1986, pls. 78-79.
Imperial automaton musical clocks were also made in the Imperial workshops in the Yangxindian in Beijing, as well as in Guangzhou. The skilled clockmakers produced clocks in all sorts of shapes and employed a variety of media. The present lot is perhaps one of the most flamboyant examples of the Chinese craftsman's newly acquired skills. It may be compared to several British clocks embellished with naturalistically rendered gilt-metal elephants supporting the clocks on their backs, illustrated in Timepieces Collected by Qing Emperors in the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, p. 86, 163, and p. 169.