A rare five-piece cloisonné enamel garniture, China, Qing dynasty, 18th...

comprising a tripod incense burner and cover, a pair of candlesticks and a pair of beaker vases 'Gu' (6)

Height of tallest 45.3 cm, 17⅞ in.

Catalogue Note:
This rare five-piece altar garniture exemplifies the splendour and technical refinement achieved by imperial craftsmen during the Qianlong period. Known as wugong (‘five offerings’), such garnitures comprise a central incense burner flanked by a pair of candlesticks and a pair of beaker vases. Produced in a variety of materials, cloisonné enamel examples were particularly favoured at the Qing imperial court.

While individual altar vessels from this period are relatively well represented in public and private collections, complete five-piece garnitures of matching design are exceedingly rare, even in the imperial collection preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing. Compare a closely related cloisonné enamel garniture, similarly decorated and bearing Qianlong marks, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum. Enamels, vol. 3, Cloisonné in the Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, pl. 6; and another related example from the Lizzadro Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 21st March 2013, lot 906. See also a five-piece garniture from the collection of Samuel P. Avery (1847–1920), sold in our New York rooms, 15th March 2016, lot 128; and a further related archaistic taotie garniture, sold in our New York rooms, 31st March 2005, lot 240, and again 16th September 2026, lot 183.

Provenance:
Collection of George Walter Vincent Smith (1832-1923), Springfield, Massachusetts, acquired prior to 1910.

Property from the Springfield Museums, Springfield, Massachusetts.

Christie's Hong Kong, 28th May 2021, lot 2902.