Important Chinese Art
Important Chinese Art
Property from a Florida Estate
A pair of cloisonné enamel Tibetan-style 'dragon' ewers (Duomuhu), 17th century | 十七世紀 銅胎掐絲琺瑯海水趕珠龍紋多穆壺一對
Auction Closed
September 22, 04:06 PM GMT
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
A pair of cloisonné enamel Tibetan-style 'dragon' ewers (Duomuhu)
17th century
十七世紀 銅胎掐絲琺瑯海水趕珠龍紋多穆壺一對
each of cylindrical section below a lobed crown rim resembling a monk’s cap, an enameled spout issuing from the mouth of a gilded mythical beast with a collar of curled tufts of fur, set opposite an S-curved fish-dragon handle with red cloisonné scaly skin and a gilt head and tail, the vessel divided into three horizontal registers each with a pair of confronting five-clawed polychrome-enameled dragons contesting a 'flaming pearl' above tumultuous waves crashing into rocky mountains, all reserved against a turquoise ground patterned with ruyi-form clouds, the exterior of the crown similarly decorated with a frontal red dragon and a large 'flaming pearl' on the interior, the circular cover with a further frontal dragon coiled around a gilt bud finial (4)
Height 24¼ in., 61.6 cm
Jacques Barrère, Paris, 1982.
來源
Jacques Barrère，巴黎，1982年
This pair of ewers are modeled after Tibetan vessels known as duohumu, meaning ‘bucket of snow’. In Tibetan practice, ewers of this type were used in Lamaist monasteries for storing butter, milk or wine. Originally made of wood with metal bands, the humble vessel was reinterpreted in various materials including cloisonné enamel, and thus transformed into a luxurious piece appropriate for use at court.
A closely related ewer was included in the exhibition Chinese Cloisonné. The Pierre Uldry Collection, Asia Society, New York, 1989, cat. no. 159; another is illustrated in Dr. Gunhild Avitanile, Die Ware aus dem Teufelsland, Hannover, 1981, pl. 59; and a third in the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, Springfield, was included in the exhibition Cloisonné: Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, Bard Graduate Center, New York, 2011, cat. no. 90. See also a closely related pair of ewers sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th April 2014, lot 3104; and a further example sold in these rooms, 21st-22nd September 2005, lot 212.