A cloisonné enamel birdcage, Qing dynasty, 17th/18th century, China

The domed gilt bronze cage sits on a tall lacquered wood stand decorated with cloisonné enamel bracket supports, and houses a bright yellow cloisonné enamel bird that stands upon its perch. The evenly spaced vertical wires of the cage radiate from a central cloisonné wheel at the top, and these are banded by five horizontal ribs. A hinged openwork oval door on the side depicts a pair of parrots amidst flowers and vines - its latch formed by a gilded ruyi-head. A spherical cloisonné enamel bird feeder is attached to the inside of cage, and is held in place by a piece of white jade. A gilt bronze hook emerges above the cage - from a finial (also gilt) that is decorated with lotus leaves.

The gilded wirework of the cage is joined to a brightly enamelled shallow circular base of turquoise ground; a continuous lotus scroll decorates its exterior, and the base of the interior depicts six large lotus flowers in red, yellow and blue with green scrolling leaves - arranged around a central white floret that surrounds the base of the gilt bronze perch. The underside and four stepped feet are similarly decorated.

Height of cage: 40cm

Height of cage on stand: 165cm

Similar example: ‘Chinese Cloisonné: The Pierre Uldry Collection’, Helmut Brinker and Albert Lutz, translated by Susanna Swoboda, The Asia Society Galleries, New York, 1989 - catalogue no. 329.