Qianlong period, 1736–1795
China

height: 54 cm

It is most unusual to find such large-scale items executed in champlevé enamel. The quality of workmanship can lead one to believe that the seats are created in cloisonné enamel – though, on closer inspection, the spacing is wider and the design more bold. The colour scheme – a light turquoise ground enriched by pink, dark blue, green and red enamels – together with the fine quality, is characteristic of the pieces made in the workshops of Guangdong for tribute to the Imperial Court in Beijing. It is believed that the majority of these pieces were commissioned to decorate the European buildings at the Summer Palace, Yuanmingyuan.

The barrel shaped seats are pierced on each side to form two large lingzhi heads that meet in the middle of the cut out. The bodies are decorated with lotus flowers and scrolling leaves amongst bats, and the two opposing faces to the lingzhi openings depict three archaic dragons, or ‘guiwen’, in an oval arrangement. The main field is framed, top and bottom, with a double border consisting of a stylised dragon fret in dark blue and red against a green ground, and a continuous row of lingzhi heads – with an infill of bright pink enamel. The decoration on the top surface of each seat echoes the main body – with the addition of four bats amongst the lotus flowers and scrolls, framed by a circular fret border in dark blue enamel against a pink ground.

Bats symbolise happiness and long life – fu being the homophone for the two. The lingzhi, also evokes ideas of longevity and immortality and is associated with the Daoist immortals; the dragon is the emblem of the Emperor, and the lotus flower is the Buddhist symbol for purity and creative power.

similar examples
‘Tributes from Guangdong to the Qing Court’, exhibition at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1987 – plates 36, 37, 38, 39.

‘Chinese Porcelains and Enamels from The Alfred Morrison Collection, Fonthill House’, Christie’s, London sale, 9th November 2004 – lot 53.