Chinese Export Porcelain Canton Famille Rose Elephant Candlestick Circa 1860

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Chinese Export Porcelain Canton Famille Rose Elephant Candlestick
Circa 1860

This Chinese export porcelain elephant is modeled as a figural … Read more Chinese Export Porcelain Canton Famille Rose Elephant Candlestick
Circa 1860

This Chinese export porcelain elephant is modeled as a figural candlestick, a form made at Canton for Western interiors in the mid-19th century. The animal stands four-square with its head lowered and turned slightly to one side, the trunk curled back to the open mouth between short white tusks and the tail looped to one side, both tipped in gilt.

The body is painted in a rich iron-red enamel and finely hatched in gilt to follow the folds of the skin. Across the back lies a shaped blanket with a gilt ground, closely painted with pink flowers and green scrolling foliage, and held by a blue harness whose straps are joined at the shoulder and haunch by pairs of interlocked rings. An iron-red saddle with raised pommel and cantle, patterned in gilt, supports the candle holder, which is of gu (beaker vase) form with a wide flared rim edged in green and gilt and bands of iron-red stiff leaves above and below a raised green collar. A long saddle cloth hangs down on each side, painted in famille rose enamels with a bird perched among peonies, lotus and bamboo, within a turquoise border of black key-fret. The underside is glazed white and the feet are left unglazed.

At nearly six inches high, the candlestick has enough presence to stand alone on a mantel, console or side table, and its iron-red, gilt and famille rose coloring sits well with Rose Medallion and other Canton porcelain.

Dimensions:
Height: 5¾ inches (14.6 cm)
Length: 6½ inches (16.5 cm)
Depth: 4½ inches (11.4 cm)

Provenance: Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge

Condition: Good antique condition, with vibrant enamels and minor wear commensurate with age.

References:
Terese Tse Bartholomew, Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art (San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2006), for the rebus of the elephant and vase.

Carl L. Crossman, The Decorative Arts of the China Trade (Woodbridge: Antique Collectors’ Club, 1991), for Canton export wares of the 19th century generally.

Historical Context:
The elephant is an auspicious animal in Chinese art, associated with strength and wisdom. Its name, xiang, sounds like the word for a sign or portent, and an elephant carrying a vase (ping, a pun on “peace”) forms the rebus taiping youxiang, a wish for peaceful times. The gu-form holder on the back of this elephant, a shape taken from ancient ritual bronzes, keeps that traditional image in a form adapted for use; holders of this kind took a candle in Western houses and are also described as stands for sticks of incense.

By the mid-19th century the enamelers of Canton were well practiced in supplying decorative figures of this kind to the export market. The gilt-ground flowers of the blanket and the bird-and-flower panels of the saddle cloth are drawn from the same repertoire as the Rose Medallion and Rose Canton wares then leaving the port in quantity.

(Ref: NY9388A-nkir) See less