A PAINTED CANTON ENAMEL CISTERN, BASIN AND COVER QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY |

the ovoid lobed cistern with a scene of leisurely scholars in a garden, surmounted by a cover with fruiting and flowering branches and mounted on a rectangular yellow-ground panel with a triangular top, with dense floral scrolls and painted chain straps, the reverse with a floral spray and the underside with blue foliate scrollwork, the interior of the basin depicting a scene from the Legend of the White Snake, with Lu Dongbin holding a fly whisk in the upper corner, the everted barbed mouthrim and reticulated cover with further floral scrolls, the sides with a blue band of archaistic kuilong and the base with two confronting phoenix (4)

Christie's Amsterdam, 24th June 2008, lot 436 (part lot).
Solomon Stodel Antiquités, Amsterdam, 2010.

With an area of restoration to the top section of the cistern backing and with typical scratches, minor cracks, and wear to the enamel throughout. The base with two labels.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Exuberantly and densely decorated, this enameled copper cistern and basin set likely contained water for drinking, or for diners to wash their hands before or between meals. It is rare to find a complete set. Compare a cistern, without the basin, decorated in a very similar manner but with a scene of ladies on the lobed vessel, included in the exhibition China of All Colours: Painted Enamels on Copper, Jorge Welsh Works of Art, London & Lisbon, 2015, cat. no. 28. Two such cisterns, missing their covers and back panels, are in the collection of The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. The first, painted with a scene of scholars with emblems of longevity, is illustrated in Tatiana Arapova, Kitaĭskie raspisnnyeèmali: Sobranie Gosudarstvennogo Ėrmitazha [Chinese painted enamels in the collection of The State Hermitage Museum], Moscow, 1988, pl. 4. The second is painted with a border of grapes and depicts a group of horses, acc. no. LI-688.