A PAIR OF EMBELLISHED CLOISONNÉ AND CHAMPLEVÉ ENAMEL CAPARISONED ELEPHANTS

Estimated Value:

2.400 € - 3.500 €

Result:

44.446 € incl. Premium and VAT

Description:

China, late Qianlong to Jiaqing period
H 32 cm
Standing on hexagonal bases with balustrades and Champlevé decoration. The trappings are finely worked.
Old private collection, assembled before 2007
The elephant is associated with strength, wisdom and intelligence, and is also held in high esteem in Buddhist beliefs. An elephant carrying a vase on its back forms the rebus Taiping Youxiang, which is a wish for peace and harmony. Models of elephants with vases on their backs were therefore often placed on either side of a throne to represent universal peace. A pair of blue cloisonné enamel elephants with vases on their backs can be seen flanking the elaborate throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City, Beijing, in a photograph illustrated in Imperial Life in the Qing Dynasty, The Empress Place Museum, Singapore, 1989, p. 46. - Minim. Losses of enamel. minim. dam. and traces of age

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