QING DYNASTY, 18TH-19TH CENTURY

Details

A PAIR OF MASSIVE CHINESE CLOISONNÉ AND CHAMPLEVÉ ENAMEL CRANE-FORM CENSERS
QING DYNASTY, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
Each crane is shown standing on a brightly colored grassy mound above a faceted base. The body of each bird is decorated with a dense pattern of gilt wires and is set with separately made wings, and each clutches in its beak a branch of lingzhi that forms a pricket candlestick.
91 and 92 1/2 in. (231 and 235 cm.) high

Provenance

Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, Paris, 18-19 November 2002, lot 511.
Acquired by Ann and Gordon Getty from the above.

Literature

F. Mcgill, A Curious Affair: The Fascination Between East and West, San Francisco, 2006, pp. 62-63.

Exhibited

San Francisco, Asian Art Museum, A Curious Affair: The Fascination Between East and West, 17 June- 3 September 2006.

Special Notice

Please note this lot will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) at 5pm on the last day of the sale. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services. Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information. This sheet is available from the Bidder Registration staff, Purchaser Payments or the Packing Desk and will be sent with your invoice.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

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Lot Essay

Pairs of similar, large, cloisonné enamel crane-form incense burners can be seen in photographs illustrated by Wang-go Weng and Yang Boda in The Palace Museum: Peking, Treasures of the Forbidden City, New York, 1982; one pair grasping lingzhi-form candlesticks in their beaks in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, p. 25, the other pair shown flanking the throne in the Hall of Great Harmony, pp. 44-45, where the authors note that the various enamel censers, including the pair of cranes, "emitted fragrant smoke that spiraled upward to envelop the Son of Heaven in ethereal haze."

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