A RARE PAIR OF MASSIVE CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER WALL PANELS

LATE QING DYNASTY

Details

A RARE PAIR OF MASSIVE CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER WALL PANELS
LATE QING DYNASTY
Each panel is in the shape of a basket of flowers supported on a simulated wood stand carved with a floral design in black lacquer against a red ground. The lower body of each basket is inset with a cloisonné plaque decorated with a different scene of immortals and surrounded by gilt-metal appliques of the bajixiang. The broad, curved upper section of the basket is 'filled' with various flowers from which rises an angular, arched handle embellished with gilt-metal mounts that simulate a brocade ribbon tied at the center with a bow which is pierced for hanging.
44 in. (111.8 cm.) high (2)

Provenance

Sotheby's London, 28 Octoer 1983, lot 365.

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Lot Essay

Comparable massive wall panels can be seen today in the Forbidden City in various halls and palaces. A pair of embellished gilt-metal double-gourd wall panels in the Yangxindian, 'Hall of Mental Cultivation,' and another pair of lacquer and gilt-metal double-gourd panels in the Changchungong, 'Palace of Everlasting Spring,' are illustrated in Ming Qing Gongting Jiaju Daguan, 2006, p. 688, pl. 786, and p. 701, pl. 805. The closest comparable example to the present pair of panels is a pair in the Chuxiugong, 'Palace for the Gathering of Excellence,' op. cit., p. 705, pl. 811. (Fig. 1)

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