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Provenance note:
The present Imperial zitan lantern stands and cloisonné lanterns were most certainly removed by force from their original location, probably inside the Forbidden City or the Summer Palace. It is reasonable to surmise that this occurred during a foreign occupation in the second half of the 19th or early 20th century; the Forbidden City was looted several times by occupation forces during this period, with the French active in both the Second Opium War (1860) and the Boxer Rebellion (1900). Subsequently, the current lot was transported to France and remained in a French castle until a few years ago, passed down from generation to generation, when the lanterns and their stands were for a while separated during estate proceedings and eventually auctioned off in different houses, before they were once again reunited.
China, early to mid-18th century. Each caparisoned elephant standing on a heavily weighted rectangular stepped base, carrying on its back a lotus pedestal supporting a zun-form vase with globular body, spreading foot, and trumpet mouth issuing a tall cylindrical pole.
Fitted with a pair of matching gilt-bronze S-shaped hooks incised with stylized lotus blossoms and terminating in an exquisitely cast dragon head with the mouth wide open in a ferocious roar.
Each suspending a cloisonné lantern of gently tapered cylindrical form constructed with glass-fitted vertical posts joined by the circular base and top frame as well as two bow-strings. Finely decorated with vertical bands of key-fret, as found in most Imperial cloisonné’s, below a horizontal wan band, all above a final band of pierced pendent ruyi-heads. (2)
Provenance: From an aristocratic family collection in France, housed in an old castle for probably over 100 years. By family descent to the last owners.
English Export License: Application for Export Licence, no. PAU/01436/23, has been granted by the Arts Council England on 24 August 2023. A copy of the holder’s sheet accompanies this lot.
Condition: Overall good condition, commensurate with age, presenting exceptionally well.
The stands with expected age cracks and associated old fills, remnants of old varnish, small nicks here and there, small losses and replacements. The wood with ancient wear, weathering, minor warping and shallow surface scratches.
The lanterns with small cracks and losses to the glass, the interior with signs of use and areas of malachite encrustation and verdigris. The enamels with minor fills and losses as expected from 18th century cloisonné wares. The lantern covers, chains, candle prickets, bayonet catches, and some screws have been replaced over time.
The dragon hooks show some rubbing to the gilt, minor casting flaws, dents and nicks here and there, overall with a good and solid patina.
The lantern bases each with a small bud-form handle connected to the interior bayonet catch and connected pricket, allowing it to be removed to replace the candle. The functionality of this system, however, cannot be guaranteed.
Weight: 110 kg (total)
Dimensions:
Total height 220 cm (each)
Size of base 30 x 72 x 52 cm (each)
Size of lantern 34 x 24 cm (each)
The carver of the present Imperial zitan lantern stands paid extremely close attention to detail. The balustrade bases are carved with openworked rails decorated with three-peaked mountains and lingzhi, above floral scroll and lotus lappets as well as the ruyi feet. The separately carved elephants wear saddle blankets with extremely fine lotus scroll decoration with a bracket-lobed border encircling the lotus base and zun. The mighty pachyderms are naturalistically rendered and well detailed with rotund bodies, large floppy ears, long curling trunks flanked by curved tusks, heavy-lidded eyes, and short tails forming loops. The gilt-bronze lantern hook are equally ornate, the dragon heads with minute scales overlapping in neat rows and neatly incised whiskers.
These types of Imperial lantern stands and lanterns belong to the group of lavish Palace furnishings of the early to mid-18th century. They are superb examples, owing to their size, style and quality of carving, and substantial use of precious zitan. The stands had different forms at times, some suspending fans or flower baskets rather than lanterns. Examples include a pair of zitan lantern stands with gilt-bronze dragon hooks suspending flower baskets flanking the royal throne within the Palace of Tranquil Longevity or Ningshou Gong (fig. 1); another pair suspending fans in the Hall of Mental Cultivation or Yangxin Dian, the center of political governance in the Forbidden City during the Qing dynasty (fig. 2); and a third pair in the Palace of Eternal Spring or Chang Chun Gong (fig. 3).
Elephants held an esteemed position in the royal courts of the Qing dynasty. Throughout Chinese history, elephants were used in warfare, and their enormous size became a symbol of power and authority. They were depicted iconographically in royal temples and palaces, see a gilt-bronze caparisoned elephant at the entrance of the Forbidden City’s imperial garden (fig. 4). These massive creatures were not only symbols of power but also of wisdom and peace. In Buddhist traditions, elephants were one of the seven sacred treasures and were linked to the Boddhisatva of wisdom, Samantabhadra. The creatures thus became symbols of enlightenment and peace. During the Qing dynasty, elephants were offered as tributes to the Emperor as a symbol of peace, often accompanied by a vase. See, for example, a scroll painting dated 1761 depicting envoys presenting tributes to the Emperor including an elephant carrying a large vase (fig. 5, illustrated by Jessica Rawson, China: The Three Emperors, 1662-1795, 2005, p. 180). The combination of elephant and vase forms a play on words, taiping yoxiang, which sounds like ‘peaceful times.’ On one occasion, the Qianlong Emperor was so pleased by a cloisonné elephant given as tribute by the governor-general Li Shiyao, he named it ‘taiping yoxiang’ and placed it in his temple, the Hall of Imperial Peace (fig. 6, exhibited by the Dallas Museum of Art, Splendors of China’s Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong, 21 November 2004-29 May 2005).
Literartur comparison:
Compare the near-identical form and size of the cloisonné lanterns on the present lot with a pair of imperial silver-inlaid zitan and cloisonné enamel lanterns, Qianlong period, at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2018, lot 3014.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2041
Price: HKD 6,500,000 or approx. EUR 1,028,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A magnificent and very rare pair of large imperial zitan lantern stands and zitan and softwood lanterns, Tiao Gan Deng Jia, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the related form, heavy zitan wood, manner of carving, and vase motif. Note the different lanterns and the size (259 cm).
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