A FINE GILT-BRONZE CLOISONNE ENAMEL TIGER WATERPOT AND COVER QIANLONG MARK AND PERIOD

the animal crouching with tail curled alongside its rear haunches, the head slightly raised and modelled with a short snout and menacing teeth, its clawed feet modelled with flame-like projections, its body brightly enamelled in ochre with black stripes and dotted markings, fitted at the back with a cloud-fringed compartment with chiselled cover, the white belly with a gilt-bronze rectangle incised with a four-character Qianlong mark

Collection of General Charles George Gordon.
Christie's London, 5th December 1994, lot 259.

This rare tiger waterpot is in very good condition with the exception of some small areas of restoration to the enamel (the animal looking left: 15 x 10 and 5 x 5mm areas to the rear haunches, 5 x 5mm., to the top of the tail, and 20 x 8 mm to the side of the curled tail; the animal looking right:10 x 2 and 5 x 5 mm., areas to the rear haunches, 2 x 2mm., to the head in front of the eye, and 8 x 3mm., to the front of the right front paw, and a 4 x 1cm., area to the white enamel on the underside of the right rear leg), very minor rubbing to the gilding and very minor characteristic enamel shrinkage and pitting.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Cloisonné enamel wares of the Qianlong period are renowned for their high quality with the present waterpot, in the form of a crouching tiger, a superb example. Only two other closely related vessels appear to be recorded, both of slightly smaller dimensions, one sold in these rooms, 22^nd June 1965, lot 277, and the other sold at Christie's London, 11^th December 1978, lot 14. In contrast to earlier, Kangxi and Yongzheng period cloisonné wares, pieces made for the Qianlong emperor and his court frequently bear the emperor's four-character reign mark, as seen on this waterpot.   

The form of this vessel is inspired by archaic bronze vessels of the Six Dynasties period, a tumultuous yet artistically creative time in China's history, that succeeded the Han Dynasty (206 BC- 220 AD). For example, see a bronze waterdropper in the form of a mythical beast cast crouching with its belly close to the ground, the head with a flat snout and mouth slightly open showing sharp teeth, illustrated in Rokucho no bijutsu (Arts of the Six Dynasties), Tokyo, 1976, pl. 159; and another vessel offered at Christie's Hong Kong, 3^rd November 1998, lot 1041. From the Han dynasty, bronze pieces were increasingly made for utilitarian use, many of which were in the form of zoomorphic or semi-zoomorphic vessels. These objects often represented the taste which prevailed amongst scholarly circles; see a bronze animal form container with the beast holding a bowl in its mouth for storing water for the scholar's desk, illustrated in René-Yvon Lefebre d'Argencé, Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the Avery Brundage Collection, San Francisco, 1966, pl. XLVIII, fig. B, together with a tapir-form vessel, fig. A.

The inspiration of a waterpot in the shape of a tiger may have also come from archaic bronze tiger figures which are invariably modelled with a powerful sinuous body in a crouching pose. See three tigers recorded by Orvar Karlbeck to have been discovered at Jincun near Luoyang, as part of a massive tripod with the tigers forming finial for the cover. One of these tigers was sold in our New York rooms, 22^nd March 2000, lot 66; another is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated in Maxwell Hearn, Ancient Chinese Art, New York, 1987, pl. 13; and the third now in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, is published in Osvald Siren, Kinas Kunst under Tre Artusenden, Stockholm, 1942, pl. 41A.

A number of Qianlong cloisonné enamel animal-form vessels can be found in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 119, a mythical beast figure, pl. 120, a tapir-form zun, pl. 121, an ox-shaped wine vessel, and pl. 122, a cock-form container. Compare also a group of vessels made for the emperor's studio which includes a covered box, a waterpot, a brush-holder and an ink-stand, from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, published in Zhongguo jin yin boli falangqi quanji, Shijiazhuang, 2002, pl. 10.

 General Charles George Gordon (1833-1885) first distinguished himself in the Crimean War (1853-1856), where he took part in the siege of Sebastopol. He was a key member of the commission drawing up the boundary between Russia and Turkey after the war. In 1860 he was ordered to China where Britain was involved in the Second Opium War. Based in Shanghai, he became commander of a militia group known as 'The Ever Victorious Army' which successfully defended the city and suppressed the Taiping uprising. Gordon was given the title 'titu', the highest grade in the Chinese army, from the Emperor, and the British Government promoted him to Lieutenant-Colonel. He was made a companion of the Bath and earned the popular nickname, "Chinese" Gordon. After five years in China, he returned to Britain in 1865.