TWO SMALL CLOISONNE ENAMEL FIGURES OF DEER

QING DYNASTY, 18TH/19TH CENTURY

Details

TWO SMALL CLOISONNE ENAMEL FIGURES OF DEER
QING DYNASTY, 18TH/19TH CENTURY
Each deer is shown with its head turned and facing to the left, finely cast with gilt metal antlers, teeth and feet. One animal's plump body is decorated with scattered flower-heads of blue and white in gilt outline and a yellow curly mane on turquoise ground. The other is decorated with curly mane in yellow and black, its face and body adorned with polychrome flowering branches in shades of red, pink, blue, yellow, white and green on turquoise ground, both deer enamelled with red lips and tails.
6 3/8 in. (16.2 cm.) long (2)

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Lot Essay

In Daoism, the deer is associated with longevity and immortality and this animal is often depicted together with the crane and the Star God of Longevity, Shoulao, as an auspicious symbol in Chinese art. The popularity of the deer as an auspicious motif is exemplified by Court paintings such as the album leaf portraying the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1723-1735) being accompanied by a deer next to a lotus pond. An incense burner in the shape of a deer of similar size is illustrated by B. Quette, Cloisonne: Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, New York, Paris, New Haven and London, 2011, pl. 106.

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