LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Details

A PAIR OF CHINESE GILT-BRONZE AND CLOISONNE ENAMEL 'CRANE'-FORM CENSERS
LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY
Each crane with turquoise-ground body decorated with a dense pattern of scrolls and dragons, with gilt-highlighted wings and grasping in its beak a removeable mushroom-form pricket stand, standing on a colorful, grassy and rockwork mound interspersed with blooming flowers and pierced gallery fence, raised on a waisted, hexagonal base decorated around the sides with lotus scroll and gilt key and cloud cast bands
80 ¾ in. (205 cm.) high; 21 ¼ in. (54 cm.) diameter

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. This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

Brought to you by

Giles Forster

gforster@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2146

Lot Essay

A pair of similar cranes, of somewhat smaller size (72 in.), is illustrated in Colorful, Elegant, and Exquisite: A Special Exhibition of Imperial Enamel Ware from Mr. Robert Chang's Collection, 28 December 2007 - 8 May 2008, Suzhou Museum, pp. 70-71, where they are dated Qianlong period. They, also, grasp lingzhi-form candlesticks in their beaks, and have similar wing and tail feathers, but the covers are missing. Pairs of similar, large, crane-form incense burners can be seen in photographs illustrated by Wang-go Weng and Yang Boda in The Palace Museum: Peking, Treasures of the Forbidden City, New York, 1982; one pair grasping lingzhi-form candlesticks in their beaks in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, p. 25, the other pair shown flanking the throne in the Hall of Great Harmony, pp. 44-45, where the authors note that the various cloisonné censers, including the pair of cranes, "emitted fragrant smoke that spiraled upward to envelop the Son of Heaven in ethereal haze". A very similar pair of cranes of the same size sold Christie's, London, 24 May 2018, lot 615 (£187,500).

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