A CANTON ENAMELED COPPER ‘LOTUS’ STAND WITH A CRYSTAL BALL, 18TH CENTURY

拍品描述

A CANTON ENAMELED COPPER ‘LOTUS’ STAND WITH A CRYSTAL BALL, 18TH CENTURY Expert’s note Crystal spheres are documented as precious objects in China at least by the Qing dynasty, with several 18th- and 19th-century examples preserved in major museum collections. Unlike their Western counterparts, however, Chinese crystal balls do not appear to have been employed for scrying or divination. Rather, the extraordinary clarity of flawless rock crystal and the technical difficulty of fashioning it into a perfect sphere made such objects highly prized as luxurious ornaments, including at the imperial court. European concepts involving crystalline spheres had meanwhile become known in China through Jesuit astronomy from the late Ming dynasty onward, although there is presently no evidence that the Chinese crystal ball itself was introduced from Europe. China. The stand with a wide bowl formed as two rows of overlapping lotus petals, the well painted in imitation of a lotus seed pod centered by a blossom, the exterior finely enameled in graduated shades of pink and green to simulate petals emerging from a lotus leaf, all supported on a splayed foot decorated with floral bands beneath stylized petals rising to a compressed globular mid-section with further leafy decoration. (2) Dimensions: Height 11.9 cm (the stand), Diameter 14.1 cm Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 27 May 2021, lot 406 Price: HKD 47,880 or approx. EUR 5,800 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the similar subject, colors, and size (10.3 cm). Note the form and Chunshan qiushui mark. Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Sotheby’s London, 13 May 2015, lot 389 Price: GBP 32,500 or approx. EUR 54,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the similar petal shaped bowl to the top and colors. Note the form.

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