Lot 366
Large Cloisonné Enamel Panel, 18th/19th Century
Lot 366 Details
Large Cloisonné Enamel Panel, 18th/19th Century
Finely rendered with a landscape of bamboo, chrysanthemum, peonies and rockery set against a sky-blue ground, a small dog flanked by a pair of doves plays in the lush garden scene
diameter 27.2" — 69 cm.
Estimate $10,000-$15,000
Provenance:
Purchased in London during the 1960’s by the 3rd Viscount Bearsted, whose family (Samuel) founded Shell Transport and Trading Company and bequeathed upon his death in 1986. Thence by descent to the current Calgary owners.
Founded in 1897, Shell Transport and Trading Company merged with the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company in 1907 to form the Royal Dutch Shell Group, now the fifth-largest operating business in the world.
Note:
The decorative motif of this panel suggests that it may have been used to decorate a woman’s chamber and was part of a larger screen with either four or eight panels. The dog, one of the oldest domesticated animals in China, serves as a symbol of fertility and often appears in family settings to reinforce traditional virtues such as familial harmony and procreation. Coupled with the pair of doves, which represent lifelong fidelity, fertility and longevity, this scene extols many of the traditional attributes of femininity.