A very rare pair of famille-verte reticulated lanterns and stands Qing dynasty, Kangxi period | 清康熙 五彩鏤雕開光人物故事圖燈籠一對

This pair of lanterns is particularly rare for the combination of its sophisticated octagonal form and the elaborate openwork designs adorning every single side of its body, crown and foot. The Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden has a pair of lanterns of similar octagonal shape (accession nos PO 3317 and PO 3318), which, according to the inventory, was kept in the Royal Palace before being transferred to the Japanisches Palais in 1725. Modelled in a form closely related to the present lot, the slightly taller (34 cm) Dresden pair is however embellished with openwork decorations only on the crown and foot and is painted with landscape scenes on the four faces.

Lanterns of this type continued to be produced after the Kangxi reign (1662-1722), see a famille rose hexagonal reticulated lantern from the second quarter of the 18th century, formerly in the collection of George Salting and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (accession no. C.1435-1910), where there is an illustration with the piece lit up; and a pair of lanterns, attributed to the Yongzheng period, from the Leonard Gow collection, published in R. L. Hobson, Catalogue of the Leonard Gow Collection of Chinese Porcelain, London, 1931, pl. LXXXIV, and included in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Art, London, 1935-36, cat. no. 2264.