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Expert’s note
This richly decorated jardinière was probably made for a jade and hardstone plant—a popular decoration within the imperial palace during the Qing dynasty. Elaborately embellished life-like plants in ornate jardinières (penjing) were made during Qing dynasty as interior decorations. Champlevé wares were manufactured in Guangzhou during the Qianlong period, as discussed in Tributes from Guangdong to the Qing Court, Art Gallery, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1987, p. 54, where the authors explain how the “flourishment of champlevé enamels in Guangzhou was closely linked to the needs of the imperial household and was stimulated by the new foreign champlevé techniques”. Penjing plants with champlevé jardinières were also documented to have been typically made in the Yangzhou area. See a champleve jardinière with hardstone miniature tree in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, object number 故00125914; and a hardstone-embellished ‘prunus tree’ in a closely related champleve enamel jardinière sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 May 2013, lot 2168, for HKD 375,000.
The present jardinière is further distinguished by its refined champlevé enamel decoration, a technique encountered far less frequently on Qing dynasty vessels than cloisonné enamel. In champlevé, recessed areas are carved directly into the bronze surface and filled with enamel, leaving the exposed metal body to form the outlines and decorative divisions. Unlike cloisonné, in which thin metal wires are applied to the surface to create separate enamel compartments, champlevé produces a more integrated relief effect, allowing the gilt-bronze ground to become an essential part of the composition.
China, 1736-1795. Of quadrilobed form, raised on four ruyi feet, the flaring sides rising to a galleried rim. The body is richly decorated in bright enamels of lapis-lazuli blue, two shades of turquoise, and coral with leafy lotus scroll, all applied over a fully gilt ground. The galleried rim is finely incised with a key-fret band along the sides and four floral cartouches reserved against a cash-diaper ground to the top. The feet are likewise exquisitely chased with scrolling foliage. The interior is left undecorated, revealing the bare copper with its naturally developed surface.
Provenance: G. Memin, Le Mans, France, 1992. Property from the R. J. S. Collection, Paris, France, acquired from the above. A copy of the invoice from G. Memin, dated 26 June 1992, dating the present lot to the 19th century, accompanies the lot. Gilles Mémin was a respected French antiquarian based in Le Mans, where he operated his antique gallery for many years in the historic Vieux Mans district. His establishment, located at 61 Grande Rue, Le Mans, formed part of the city’s long-standing antiques trade, specializing in the sale of works of art and historical objects. The R. J. S. Collection was formed by a private connoisseur whose interest in Chinese art began in 1975, encouraged by Asian friends and sustained through frequent visits to the Musée Guimet in Paris. During the 1980s and 1990s, he traveled extensively throughout France and elsewhere in Europe, seeking out works that were often overlooked or insufficiently catalogued at regional antique fairs and estate sales. His discerning eye was drawn particularly to imperial works and objects associated with the scholar’s studio, and the collection came to encompass fine ceramics, jades, bronzes, carved wood, and lacquer, with a particular appreciation for the vigor of Ming art and the refinement of the Qing.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear and manufacturing irregularities including pitting, minor losses to gilding, few minute losses and fine minuscule cracks to enamels, small dents to rims. The base drilled with a central aperture and subsequently filled with a metal patch.
Weight: 998 g
Dimensions: Width 24.8 cm
Literature comparison:
Compare with a related flowerpot, dated Qianlong period, in the collection of the Museum of Asian Art, Moscow, illustrated by M. A. Neglinskaya in Chinese Cloisonne Enamels Fifteenth to Twentieth Century, Moscow, 2006, no. 108, pp. 52 and 149. Compare the similar design and workmanship on a gilt-bronze and champlevé enamel flowerpot, dated mid-Qing dynasty, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Enamels 4, Beijing, 2011, pl. 26.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams London, 9 November 2017, lot 135
Mid-Estimate: GBP 25,000 or approx. EUR 39,500 (for two) converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A pair of rare gilt-bronze and champlevé enamel flowerpots, Qianlong
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, motifs, and size (25 cm). Note the handles.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 15 December 2010, lot 105
Price: EUR 37,000 or approx. EUR 48,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt-copper repousse enamel circular basin, China, Qing dynasty, late Qianlong period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related decoration and motifs. Note the different form and the size (35.5 cm).
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