20TH CENTURY

Details

A PAIR OF MASSIVE CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL FIGURES OF SHEEP
20TH CENTURY
The sheep are shown in mirror image standing with head slightly turned on a waisted rectangular plinth. Each has a white coat, and the head and ears are black mottled with blue, as are the legs and areas of the body, all with a dense pattern of wire curls. The plinth is decorated on top with flowers on a dark red and blue scroll ground interrupted in front by an Arabic inscription (which may be translated as, 'the sacrificial lamb'), within a panel, while the sides are decorated with flower sprays on a white ground.
48 in. (122 cm.) wide

Provenance

Acquired in Hong Kong, 1989.

Lot Essay

Massive cloisonné enamel figures of animals standing on plinths are seen as early as the Qianlong period, such as the figure of an elephant supporting a vase on its back (170 cm. high) in the Qing Court Collection, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 43 - Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, pp. 142-43, no. 137. Unlike the scroll decoration on the body of the elephant, the maker of this pair of sheep attempted a more realistic depiction, using tightly scrolled gilt wires to imitate the curly coat of the animal.

More from Rivers of Color: Cloisonné Enamels from Private American Collections

View All