A small Chinese cloisonné enamel censer Lot n° 207

The censer is of cylindrical form standing on three gilt ruyi-shaped feet, it is delicately decorated with large lotus scrolls with buds and small leaves reserved on a pale turquoise ground. At the base is incised with a four character Qianlong mark and the further character 'yin'. Provenance: With a paper label reading: Hermann von Mandl, Paris, C-24. This type of cloisonné enamel object has been variously called a censer or a brush pot, but it would have certainly played a role in a scholar's set. Compare similar vessels also bearing the extra character in addition to the four character Qianlong mark, including: a censer marked 'fu' published in H. Brinker and A. Lutz, Chinesisches Cloisonné. Die Sammlung Uldry, Zürich 1985, cat. no. 248; one marked 'yin' in Gerard Hawthorn Ltd. Oriental Art, Oriental Works of Art, London 2003, no. 25; and one marked 'shi' sold at Sotheby's London, 6 November 2013, lot 136. Qianlong emperor in the seventh year of his reign commissioned a series of cloisonné enamel vessels to be made and inscribed with additional characters from the Thousand Character Classic. Zhang Rong discusses the use of these characters in Reverence and Perfection, Magnificent Imperial Cloisonné Enamels from a Private European Collection, Christie's Hong Kong, 2013, pp. 8-9. Condition: Appears to be in overall good condition, with minor expected wear and dents. Origin: China Period: Qianlong four-character incised mark and of the period (1736-1795) Sizes: 9.50 cm. H x 9.00 cm. diameter 3.74 in. H x 3.54 in. diameter