Krystal Liu
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Lot 155
AN IMPORTANT LARGE PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE 'TORCH-BEARER' ROCOCO CANDLE SCONCES FOR THE EUROPEAN MARKET Early Qianlong period, circa 1740
24 January 2023, 10:00 EST
New YorkUS$80,000 - US$120,000
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Michael Hughes
Vice President and Head of Department
AN IMPORTANT LARGE PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE 'TORCH-BEARER' ROCOCO CANDLE SCONCES FOR THE EUROPEAN MARKET
Early Qianlong period, circa 1740
The elaborate sconces richly enameled in a variety of bright colors, the very unusual shape following a European baroque metal original, the center of the sconce boldly enameled with a fanciful Chinoiserie standing figure holding a blazing torch raised high over their head and another unlit lowered at his right side, all contained within a relief-molded 'frame' incorporating C-scrolls, lattice work, scrolling leaf forms and other baroque motifs and open-winged parrots in the upper quadrants, all brilliantly enameled and with gilt highlights, the reverse sides unglazed and pierced for suspension.
19 1/4in (48.7cm) high (2).
The elaborate sconces richly enameled in a variety of bright colors, the very unusual shape following a European baroque metal original, the center of the sconce boldly enameled with a fanciful Chinoiserie standing figure holding a blazing torch raised high over their head and another unlit lowered at his right side, all contained within a relief-molded 'frame' incorporating C-scrolls, lattice work, scrolling leaf forms and other baroque motifs and open-winged parrots in the upper quadrants, all brilliantly enameled and with gilt highlights, the reverse sides unglazed and pierced for suspension.
19 1/4in (48.7cm) high (2).
Footnotes
乾隆早期 約1740年 為歐洲市場製大件粉彩洛可可《攜火者》壁燭座一對
Published:
Cohen & Cohen, Take Two!, Antwerp, 2017, pp. 118-123, no. 52, with illustrations of the variations among Pronk-style sconces, and pp. 122-123 for an essay by Will Motley on 'The Pronk Workshop Enterprise.'
出版：
倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，2017年，頁120-121，圖版編號52，例圖各式普龍克風格之燭臺，Motley并於頁122-123撰文《The Pronk Workshop Enterprise》。
These extremely rare sconces belong to the small group of Chinese export porcelain wares whose unusual design is associated with the Dutch draftsman Cornelis Pronk, although in the case of these elaborate sconces the design is not yet actually documented as being prepared by him for the Dutch VOC for manufacturing in China. The shape is entirely European in origin. Western wall sconces were made in many metals, notably silver, gilt-bronze and brass, to provide candlelight in a variety of interiors, the shiny metal admirably reflecting the flickering light of the tallow candles.
The inspiration for the Chinoiserie torchbearer here is likely to be one of various figures, several of which show eastern ceremonial processions with figures bearing flaming torches, published in Ceremonies and Religious Customs of Various Nations of the World by J. F. Bernard and Bernard Picart (Amsterdam, 1723-30).
This design is variously known as the 'Torch-bearer' or the 'Flame Dancer' and is recorded in two Chinese export porcelain versions featuring different relief-molded frames around the painted figure. The other version is thinner and smaller and does not include the phoenixes relief-molded in the surrounding 'frame'. The sconces are correctly fitted for functional use as they would have been in 18th century Europe with (later) European bronze foliate candle sconces, probably 19th century, and set with European porcelain white flowerheads.
References: for other examples see The Hermitage, in Arapova et al., 2003, no. 49; Boston Museum of Fine arts (no. 2006.891.1&2), a pair; Jörg, 1980, fig. 13, p. 38; formerly in the Mottahedeh Collection, illustrated by Howard & Ayers, 19789, Vol. 1, p. 295; Cohen & Cohen, 2008, no. 23, for a sconce with Chinese figures; Cohen & Cohen, 2007, no. 11, for a smaller phoenix-enameled sconce.