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A Fine and Large Pair of Chinese Imperial Cloisonné Enamel and Gilt Bronze Vases
A Fine and Large Pair of Chinese Imperial Cloisonné Enamel and Gilt Bronze Vases, Huluping.
Qing Dynasty, each with a six character Qianlong seal mark and of the period 1736-95, 47.2cm.
Each vase colourfully enamelled with scrolling gourd vines with white flowers, yellow and green fruits and curling tendrils, all on a turquoise ground, the waist of each vase decorated with a gilded key-fret band, the rims, bases and cloisons gilded. (2)
Provenance By repute, from the collection of HRH Prince Arthur, 1st Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (1850-1942), and his daughter Lady Patricia Ramsay (1886-1974). John Stafford Reid Byers (1903-84), of Waterfoot House, Newcastle, County Down, a collector and connoisseur, believed to have been acquired in Ireland during the Second World War.
Catalogue Note
The gourd has been a popular form in Chinese iconography since Neolithic times, and became a major Daoist emblem full of auspicious associations. Li Tieguai, one of the eight Daoist Immortals is particularly associated with bottle gourds, which were believed to harbour spirits, magic potions and elixirs of long life. The Chinese word for bottle gourd, hulu, is a pun for both blessings and wealth.
Cf. H. Brinker and A. Lutz, Chinese Cloisonné, The Pierre Uldry Collection, no.294 for a closely related vase which also appears in H. Blairman & Sons' gallery exhibition advertisement in The Connoisseur, March 1928, Vol LXXX, No.319. See also Christie's New York, 24-25 March 2011 lot 1621 for a smaller unmarked pair of Qianlong cloisonné gourd-shaped vases.
This is a premium lot. In order to bid on this lot, please complete the form (downloadable on the right) and provide the necessary deposit.
Provenance By repute, from the collection of HRH Prince Arthur, 1st Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (1850-1942), and his daughter Lady Patricia Ramsay (1886-1974). John Stafford Reid Byers (1903-84), of Waterfoot House, Newcastle, County Down, a collector and connoisseur, believed to have been acquired in Ireland during the Second World War.
Catalogue Note
The gourd has been a popular form in Chinese iconography since Neolithic times, and became a major Daoist emblem full of auspicious associations. Li Tieguai, one of the eight Daoist Immortals is particularly associated with bottle gourds, which were believed to harbour spirits, magic potions and elixirs of long life. The Chinese word for bottle gourd, hulu, is a pun for both blessings and wealth.
Cf. H. Brinker and A. Lutz, Chinese Cloisonné, The Pierre Uldry Collection, no.294 for a closely related vase which also appears in H. Blairman & Sons' gallery exhibition advertisement in The Connoisseur, March 1928, Vol LXXX, No.319. See also Christie's New York, 24-25 March 2011 lot 1621 for a smaller unmarked pair of Qianlong cloisonné gourd-shaped vases.
This is a premium lot. In order to bid on this lot, please complete the form (downloadable on the right) and provide the necessary deposit.
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