An exceptional pair of large cloisonné enamel tripod 'elephant' incense burners and covers, Marks and period of Kangxi | 清康熙 掐絲琺瑯「纏枝蕃蓮」朝天三象足雙耳蓋爐一對《大清康熙年製》款

Acquired from a French private collection in the Pyrénées Orientales in 2015.

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於2015年得自法國私人收藏，東比利牛斯省

Cloisonné pieces bearing a Kangxi reign mark are exceedingly rare, with only around thirty examples recorded today, mostly in the collections of the Palace Museum, Beijing and the National Palace Museum, Taipei, mainly smaller in size. This may be related to the general observation that imperial inscriptions were not commonly applied to objects during Kangxi's early reign. Additionally, it may be due to the fact the imperial workshops were focusing on developing painted enamel techniques. (see National Palace Museum, ‘Mingqing falang gongyi gailun [A general discussion on cloisonné technique of Ming and Qing dynasties]’ in Mingqing falangqi zhanlan tulu / Enamel Ware in The Ming and Ch’ing Dynasties, Taipei, 1999, pp. 26-27). 

The form of these tripod incense burners is evidently inspired by archaic bronze yan of the Western Zhou Dynasty (c. 1050-771 BC). However, elephant-head legs are already found on early Ming cloisonné prototypes, such as an incense burner in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Gugong bowuyuan cangping daxi: falang qi bian / Compendium of Collection in the Palace Museum, Enamels, vol. 1, Beijing, 2011, pl. 34. It is not until the late Ming period that the design combining the ancient bronze yan-shaped body with elephant-head legs becomes more established. Three examples of this type, all attributed to the late Ming or 17th century, have been published: the first with an openwork wood cover, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated in Beatrice Quette ed. Cloisonné Chinese Enamels from the Yuan Ming and Qing Dynasties, London, 2011, cat. no. 40; the second, lacking a cover, illustrated in Helmut Brinker and Albert Lutz, Chinese Cloisonné, Zurich, 1989, pl. 100; the third in the collection of the British Museum, London, currently on display in Room 1 (acc. no. 1889,0507.23). The latter is notably bearing two 'Daming jingtai nianzhi' marks, one on the bottom and the other on the edge of the rim.

Compare a similar example, also with a 'Daqing kangxi nianzhi' reign mark at the edge of the rim, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 4th October 2011, lot 1961; three closely related pieces are in the Palace Museum, Beijing, two (acc. no. 故00116847 , 故00116328) published online and one (acc. no. 故00116327), illustrated in Gugong bowuyuan cangpin daxi: falang qi bian / Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum, Enamels, vol. 2, Beijing, 2011, pl. 5; another piece, with its cover missing (acc. no. 故琺000251), is in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. This censer design persisted throughout the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), see a pair in almost identical form but of Qianlong mark and period (1736-95), sold in our London rooms, 7th March 1980, lot 131; and another from the collections of Viscount Byng of Vimy, Thorpe le Soken, Essex, and the Governor General of Canada (1921-26), sold at Christie's New York, 8th December 1986, lot 345.

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帶康熙年款的掐絲琺瑯器件極為珍罕，目前已知僅三十餘件，主要藏於北京故宮博物院及台北故宮博物院，並多為小巧之作。其原因可能與康熙初期「不尚尊號」有關，但亦可能受康熙宮廷著力研發畫琺瑯工藝之影響 （台北故宮博物院，《明清掐絲琺瑯工藝概論》，《明清琺瑯器展覽圖錄》，台北，1999年，頁26-27）。

此類三足爐造型可追溯至西周時期（約公元前1050-771年）之青銅甗，至明初，琺瑯器上初現象首足之設計。參見北京故宮博物院藏一件明初琺瑯三足爐，錄於《故宮博物院藏品大系：琺瑯器編》，第1卷，北京，2011年，圖34。甗身結合象首三足設計的香爐造型至明末趨於定式，已知出版三件同類香爐均斷代為明末或十七世紀，其一配鏤空木蓋，藏於紐約大都會博物館，圖載於Beatrice Quette編，《Cloisonné Chinese Enamels from the Yuan Ming and Qing Dynasties》，倫敦，2011，圖版40；其二無蓋，圖載於Helmut Brinker and Albert Lutz, 《Chinese Cloisonné, Zurich》, 1989, 圖版100；其三藏於大英博物館，目前在一號展廳展出（藏品編號：1889,0507.23）。其中大英博物館所藏之爐底部及口沿處各有一「大明景泰年制」刻款，尤為特別。

參考一近例，口沿亦有「大清康熙年制」刻款，售於香港蘇富比2011年10月4日，編號1961。另比較北京故宮博物院藏三件相似之例，兩件見故宮博物館數字文物庫（館藏編號 故00116847, 故00116328），其三（藏品編號 故00116327）錄於《故宮博物院藏品大系・琺瑯器編》，北京，2011年，圖5。台北故宮博物院亦藏一例，唯頂蓋缺失（藏品編號 故琺000251）。此象首三足香爐之設計延用至清末，參考一件乾隆款及時代之例，售於倫敦蘇富比1980年3月7日，編號131；另比一例，為前加拿大總督（1921-26），埃塞克斯郡索普-勒-索肯的維米子爵(Viscount Byng of Vimy)之舊藏，售於紐約佳士得1986年12月8日，編號345。