A PAIR OF CHINESE IMPERIAL CLOISONNE DUCK AND TORTOISE PRICKET CANDLESTICKS

QIANLONG/JIAQING

Each modelled as a duck, its wings outstretched and its beak open to reveal a ball, standing on the shell of a turtle, which in turn rests on two large snakes, the shallow dish beneath depicting rocks emerging from waves, the exterior with a band of lappets, all raised on three ruyi feet, 18.6cm. (2)

Provenance: an English private collection.

Cf. Classics of the Forbidden City, Enamels in the Collection of the Palace Museum, p.199, no.183, where a single similar example is illustrated.