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Lot Essay
The present censer, with its majestic construction, exquisite enamelling and elaborately cast handles, is undoubtedly made for imperial use and is representative of Qing imperial cloisonné enamels of the highest quality.
The extremely ornate phoenix handles cast with painstaking details on the present censer are of unprecedented quality, and are reminiscent of the rococo style in vogue in contemporaneous Europe, which noticeably provided inspiration for certain works of art produced for the Qing court especially during the Qianlong period. These handles are in a style very similar to a cloisonné enamel rhyton attached with a gilt-bronze phoenix in profile, also cast with great details and dating to the Qianlong period, from the Robert Chang Collection (fig. 1) and included in the exhibition Colorful, Elegant, and Exquisite: A Special Exhibition of Imperial Enamel Ware from Mr. Robert Chang’s Collection, Suzhou Museum, 2007-2008, Catalogue, pp. 34-35. The Qing Court Collection has a number of cloisonné enamel censers and other vessels set with similar giltbronze phoenix handles, although none of them are executed with the same degree of meticulous attention to details. Examples include a cloisonné enamel censer with handles in the form of phoenix with abstract scrolling bodies; a cloisonné enamel zun with phoenix handles of similar shape but of more simplistic form; and a cloisonné enamel censer flanked by a pair of abstract stylised phoenix handles, all dating to the mid-Qing period and illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum - Enamels (3) - Cloisonne in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Beijing, 2011, pls. 197, 77 and 206 respectively.
The present censer is a close comparison to a Qianlong period cloisonné enamel tripod censer of smaller size (40.6 cm. high) from the Robert Chang Collection, which is also decorated on the body and the cover with ruyi-shaped panels enclosing dense design of flowers and foliage, but flanked by gilt-bronze handles in the form of dragons (fig. 2), also illustrated ibid., 2007-2008, Catalogue, pp. 56-57. Compare also to another censer from the Qing Court Collection, densely decorated with quatrefoil panels with gilt-bronze dragon handles, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum - Enamels (3) - Cloisonne in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Beijing, 2011, pl. 205 (fig. 3).
The extremely ornate phoenix handles cast with painstaking details on the present censer are of unprecedented quality, and are reminiscent of the rococo style in vogue in contemporaneous Europe, which noticeably provided inspiration for certain works of art produced for the Qing court especially during the Qianlong period. These handles are in a style very similar to a cloisonné enamel rhyton attached with a gilt-bronze phoenix in profile, also cast with great details and dating to the Qianlong period, from the Robert Chang Collection (fig. 1) and included in the exhibition Colorful, Elegant, and Exquisite: A Special Exhibition of Imperial Enamel Ware from Mr. Robert Chang’s Collection, Suzhou Museum, 2007-2008, Catalogue, pp. 34-35. The Qing Court Collection has a number of cloisonné enamel censers and other vessels set with similar giltbronze phoenix handles, although none of them are executed with the same degree of meticulous attention to details. Examples include a cloisonné enamel censer with handles in the form of phoenix with abstract scrolling bodies; a cloisonné enamel zun with phoenix handles of similar shape but of more simplistic form; and a cloisonné enamel censer flanked by a pair of abstract stylised phoenix handles, all dating to the mid-Qing period and illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum - Enamels (3) - Cloisonne in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Beijing, 2011, pls. 197, 77 and 206 respectively.
The present censer is a close comparison to a Qianlong period cloisonné enamel tripod censer of smaller size (40.6 cm. high) from the Robert Chang Collection, which is also decorated on the body and the cover with ruyi-shaped panels enclosing dense design of flowers and foliage, but flanked by gilt-bronze handles in the form of dragons (fig. 2), also illustrated ibid., 2007-2008, Catalogue, pp. 56-57. Compare also to another censer from the Qing Court Collection, densely decorated with quatrefoil panels with gilt-bronze dragon handles, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum - Enamels (3) - Cloisonne in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Beijing, 2011, pl. 205 (fig. 3).