A MASSIVE CLOISONNE ENAMEL CENSER AND COVER QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD

of broad rectangular section supported by four shaped legs surmounted by upturned beast heads, the flared sides flanked at the rim by a pair of rectangular loop handles, the corners and mid-section divided by gilt raised flanges, decorated overall in cloisonné enamels, to each face with a taotie mask, below two pairs of confronting archaistic kui dragons, the cover with four pierced gilt panels, each carved with bats swooping amid dense cloud scrolls, decorated to the sides with archaistic dragon scroll designs, surmounted by an elaborately carved gilt Buddhist lion finial, sitting with its paw gripping on a ball, with a ferocious facial expression, its long mane formed by tight curling whorls, and its bushy tail standing high

Censers of this form and large size are rare.  See a comparable cloisonné censer which forms part of an altar set in the Pierre Uldry Collection, illustrated in Helmut Brinker and Albert Lutz, Chinesisches Cloisonné - Die Sammlung Pierre Uldry, Zurich, 1985, cat. no. 267.  See another similar censer sold in our London rooms, 7th June 2000, lot 47.