A PAIR OF MASSIVE CLOISONNE ENAMEL PHOENIX LATE QING DYNASTY

each similarly modeled, standing on slender gilt-bronze legs and taloned feet, each bird with brilliantly enameled plumage in red, two shades of green, yellow, two tones of blue, pink and black all on a turquoise ground, with long extended tails and curled underfeathers, the small heads raised and slightly tilted, the beak and crest gilded, all supported on a rectangular wooden base with enameled top with rock work in high relief, one with a four character mark, tiandi yijia chun
(18)

Sotheby's New York, 12th-13th October 1984, lot 212.

The present pair appears to be inspired by the pair of bronze phoenix that stand before an entrance at Yihe Yuan, the Summer Palace on the outskirts of Beijing. The reference to late Qing summer palace is further emphasized by the tiandi yijia chun mark which is associated directly with the Dowager Empress Cixi.