QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

A similar pair of elephants is illustrated in Daily Life in the Forbidden City, 1988, pl. 86, shown flanking a throne in the Eastern Warmth Chamber in the Hall of Mental Cultivation (Yangxin Dian), where the Empress Cixi summoned ministers to audiences during the reigns of Tongzhi and Guangxu. Other comparable examples include two pairs sold in our New York Rooms, 27 November 1991, lot 73, and 3 June 1993, lot 22; a large 19th-century pair illustrated by H. Brinker and A. Lutz, Chinese Cloisonné: The Pierre Uldry Collection, New York, The Asia Society Galleries, New York, 1989, no. 332; and a massive single elephant in the Qing Court Collection, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 43 - Metal-Bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 142-3, pl. 137.