18TH CENTURY

Details

A RARE AND LARGE CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL 'LOTUS-LEAF' BRUSH WASHER, XI
18TH CENTURY
The impressive washer is fashioned as a broad, deep lotus leaf with its veins finely and naturalistically detailed in shades of green and russet enamels. The long spiralling gilt-bronze stems form the stand, and bear a further folded leaf, a lotus pod, and a blossoming lotus flower with white petals and pinkish tips; together with Catalogue of the Avery Collection of Ancient Chinese Cloisonnés, Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, 1912.
15 ¾ in. (40 cm.) wide

Provenance

Samuel Putnam Avery (1847- 1920), New York.
Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, accessioned during 1909 and 1910.

Literature

Avery Collection of Ancient Chinese Cloisonnés, Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, 1912, p 67, no. 129.

Exhibited

The Avery Collection of Ancient Chinese Cloisonnes, Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, 1909-1910.

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Sale room notice

Please note that the lotus brush washer referenced in the catalogue that was exhibited and published in The Avery Collection of Ancient Chinese Cloisonnés is a comparable example and not the same as the current lot
圖錄中提及The Avery Collection of Ancient Chinese Cloisonnés的展覽及出版資料，純粹為參考對比，該器物與此拍品並不相同

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Samantha Yuen

syuen@christies.com +44 (0)20 7104 5791

Lot Essay

It is very rare to find a lotus leaf washer in cloisonné enamel and particularly one of this size. Although this subject matter was a popular choice of form for washers of the Qing period, they are more commonly crafted from other materials such as jade and crystal, for example, a jade lotus leaf-form washer sold at Christie’s New York, 19-20 May 2013, lot 1739. For a similar but smaller cloisonné enamel lotus-leaf-form washer (24 cm. wide), see one sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3 June 2015, lot 2916.

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