CHINE, XVIIÈME SIÈCLE

Compare the cloisonne enamel duck shown standing on an inverted lotus leaf, dated to the late Ming dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 43 - Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 79, no. 76. The same theme of a duck with lotus stems in its beak shown standing atop an inverted lotus leaf base can be seen in a bronze censer dated to the Ming dynasty, illustrated in the Roger Keverne Winter Exhibition Catalogue, 2006, p. 22, no. 18, where the authors note that the inspiration for the motif as a censer is based on Han dynasty prototypes, such as the one illustrated by J. M. White and R. Y. Otsuka, Pathways to the Afterlife: Early Chinese Art from the Sze Hong Collection, Denver Art Museum, 1993, pp. 78-9, no. 33.