Footnotes

清乾隆 銅胎掐絲琺瑯鷺蓮圖鶴壽三足大熏爐

Provenance: a European private collection
Bonhams London, 10 November 2016, lot 96
A UK private collection

來源：歐洲私人收藏
倫敦邦瀚斯，2016年11月10日，拍品編號96
英國私人收藏

The Qianlong Emperor was a keen collector of objects of the past, advocating to restore ancient ways, suggesting that craftsmen turn to antiquity for models which would enable them to imbue their designs with simplicity and honesty in order to achieve refinement and elegance.

The present vessel is a magnificent example of the Qianlong period, combining the archaistic form derived from the Shang and Zhou dynasties ding ritual vessel, with the opulent taste of the Qing Court, utilising the vibrantly-colourful cloisonné enamel embellished with the gilt bronze dragon finial and handles. The master craftsman has further elevated the vessel, both in height and in extravagance by using three long-legged cranes instead of cabriole legs as supports.

The magnificent vessel is imbued with auspicious associations as often seen on other Imperial works of art. The cranes symbolise Immortality and are often shown as companions to Shoulao, the God of Longevity. Paintings of cranes had been popular in the Imperial Court since the Northern Song dynasty, when the Huizong Emperor (1082-1135) himself painted an iconic handscroll, 'Auspicious Cranes', now preserved in the Liaoning Provincial Museum, Shenyang, and illustrated by J.Cahill, 3000 Years of Chinese Painting, New Haven, 1997, p.123, fig.114. Cranes were also a recurring subject in the paintings of the Jesuit Court artist Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766). Further symbolism is imbued in the lotus, as one of the Eight Buddhist Emblems, and bajixiang and its association with purity.

Compare with a similar pair of cloisonné enamel incense burners and covers with crane supports bearing similar dragon handles, Qianlong, which were sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 4 December 2008, lot 202. See also a similar pair of cloisonné enamel incense burners and covers with crane supports but with upright cloisonné enamel handles, Qianlong, in the British Museum, London, one of which is illustrated by E.S.Rawski and J.Rawson, eds., China: The Three Emperors 1662-1795, London, 2005, pl.304; for another similar example see H.Brinker and A.Lutz, Chinese Cloisonné: The Pierre Uldry Collection, New York, 1989, pl.323; and compare with a pair similar to the British Museum example, which was sold at Sotheby's New York, 18 March 2014, lot 359.