QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER MARK IN BLUE ENAMEL WITHIN A DOUBLE SQUARE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Details

A SMALL PAINTED ENAMEL ‘BATS AND PEACHES’ SQUARE BOX AND COVER
QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER MARK IN BLUE ENAMEL WITHIN A DOUBLE SQUARE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)
The top of the box is delicately painted in blue enamel with a blossoming and fruiting peach spray below a bat in flight with an additional floral spray at each of the corner. The interior of the cover is painted in famille rose with a further peach spray below three bats in flight. Each side of the box and cover are painted with a different floral spray, including morning glory, lotus, daylily, camellia, chrysanthemum. The reign mark is inscribed to the centre of the outer base of the box.
1 3⁄8 in. (3.3 cm.) square, box

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Marco Almeida (安偉達) SVP, Senior International Specialist, Head of Department & Head of Private Sales

malmeida@christies.com +852 2978 6735

Lot Essay

The box is rendered with great precision and much attention has been paid to the details of decoration including the interior. The floral sprays are painted in a naturalistic style, suggesting that the artist was trained in the Western manner. Small painted enamel boxes bearing Qianlong marks are rare, compare with a slightly larger box painted with birds and flower in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo jinyin boli falangqi quanji, vol. 6, Hebei, p. 99, no. 152, which is inscribed with a Qianlong mark enclosed within a double gourd on the base; and a rectangular box and cover with European figures bearing a similar mark sold at Christie’s Paris, 9 June 2015, lot 314.

More from Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art

View All