A CHINESE ENAMEL COPPER TRAY, QIANLONG (1736-1795)

拍品描述

A CHINESE ENAMEL COPPER TRAY, QIANLONG (1736-1795) The tray is of rectangular form with indented corners and a shallow raised rim, worked in painted enamels on copper. Its pale ground provides a clear field for a carefully arranged still-life composition, framed by a blue key-fret border within fine red lines and an outer band of green scrollwork. The form is practical and elegant, its low profile and shaped rim lending definition to the surface without interrupting the painted design. The central decoration presents an assemblage of scholarly and auspicious objects, including archaistic bronze vessels, flowering branches, books, a feather, a fan, fruit and small ritual or decorative implements. The black enamelled vessels provide strong visual anchors within the composition, set against the lighter ground and enlivened by pink flowers, turquoise leaves, blue borders and touches of red and yellow. The objects are spaced with deliberate clarity, creating the impression of a refined tabletop arrangement rather than a dense ornamental field. The tray’s structure is defined by its metal-edged rim, shallow well and small supports, allowing it to function as a serving or display tray while also serving as a decorative object in its own right. The underside is more restrained, enamelled in a pale tone and centred by a small blue floral sprig, a typical contrast between the elaborately painted face and the simpler reverse. The side panels are treated with pale green crackled ornament, visually linking the upper and lower surfaces. The subject belongs to the Chinese tradition of “hundred antiques” and auspicious still-life imagery, in which vessels, flowers, books and precious objects evoke learning, refinement, prosperity and cultured taste. During the Qianlong period, such motifs were especially well suited to painted enamel wares, whose smooth surfaces allowed detailed pictorial decoration to be combined with bright colour and precise ornamental borders. This tray is a finely composed Qianlong enamel work, distinguished by its shaped copper form, clear still-life arrangement and measured balance of scholarly symbolism and decorative refinement. Length: 28.5 cm Width: 19 cm

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