A PAIR OF CLOISONNE ENAMEL PARROT-FORM CENSERS AND COVERS
A PAIR OF CLOISONNE ENAMEL PARROT-FORM CENSERS AND COVERS
A PAIR OF CLOISONNE ENAMEL PARROT-FORM CENSERS AND COVERS
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A PAIR OF CLOISONNE ENAMEL PARROT-FORM CENSERS AND COVERS
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A PAIR OF CLOISONNE ENAMEL PARROT-FORM CENSERS AND COVERS

CHINA, QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

Details
A PAIR OF CLOISONNE ENAMEL PARROT-FORM CENSERS AND COVERS
CHINA, QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
Each modelled with head turned to one side, left foot raised, standing on a domed perch decorated with tigers in a rocky landscape with peonies, the birds with yellow and white bodies, embellished with colourful tail and wing plumage, the covers similarly decorated
9 ½ in. (24.3 cm.) high
Provenance
Christie's London, 8 October 1974, lot 172.

Brought to you by

Amelia Walker
Amelia Walker Director, Specialist Head of Private & Iconic Collections

Lot Essay

Parrots, parakeets and lories have long been admired in China for their colourful plumage and intelligence. In early times flocks of parrots were found in the Long Mountains on the border between modern Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. Because of their ability to mimic human speech, they became known as 'Divine birds of the Western Regions'. From the third century AD, brilliantly coloured parrots were sent as gifts to the Chinese emperors by the rulers of Indonesia and Indochina. The most admired parrots of the Tang dynasty were the so-called five-coloured parrots, two of which were gifted to Tang dynasty emperors. From this period parrots remained popular pet birds for those wealthy enough to afford them.

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