Adam's FINE ASIAN ART 28th,29th,30th Preview June 2022

42 A PALACE SIZE THREE-PIECE (3) CLOISONNÉ ‘LOTUS’ ALTAR GARNITURE, ELEMENTS OF A WUGONG CHINA, LATE QING DYNASTY It consists of: - one three-legged incense burner with a compressed globular body and a trumpet neck flanked by two handles and topped by a parcel reticulated and chiseled lid with a dragon-shaped finial, it is finely decorated in cloisonne enamel with lotus scrolls and flowers as well as confronted dragons against a light turquoise blue ground, the legs have nice gilded beast faces, the lid is parcel open-worked and chiseled with bats, the finial is intricately reticulated with a five- clawed dragon amidst clouds; - two cloisonne beaker or yenyen vases adorned with taotie masks, stylized banana leaves and lotus flowers and. H (the biggest, the incense burner): 48 cm Note: Known as wugong (the five offerings), wares of this type were made in the finest materials to serve as ceremonial furnish- ings in the many shrines, temples and ritual spaces within the compounds of the Imperial palaces. Altar garnitures typically com- prise an incense burner, placed in the center, flanked by two candleholders and gu-shaped vases, all placed on tall stools, as seen in a 20th century picture of the Daxiongbaodian of the Tanzhe Temple near Beijing, illustrated in Helmut Brinker and Albert Lutz, Chinese Cloisonné. These ceremonial wares were conventionally modeled after archaic bronzes from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. By the Song dynasty this practice had already been established, but abandoned at the beginning of the Ming, when the Hongwu emperor decreed that daily utensils were to be used during state rituals. It was however reinstated in the first part of the Qianlong emperor’s reign, reflecting the emperor’s interest in the correct performance of ceremonies and rituals. €5,000 - €7,000