A small cylinder jar featuring 3 medallions of red-crowned cranes separated by hanging charms featuring bats, beads, tassels, and auspicious symbols. The jar measures 10x7cm, narrower than the caddies typically part of smoking sets in the Republic era. The jar is comparatively heavy, possibly due to lead weighting beneath the interior lid and body enamel. At any rate, it won’t tip over easily. The lid is slightly domed.
In Chapter 6, page 124 of the book Cloisonne: Chinese
Enamels from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, the chapter author Therese
Tse Bartholomew mentions a rebus composed of a bat carrying a stone chime with
two fish hanging below. “This combination is a pun for fuqing youyu (福慶有餘),
or ‘May there be an abundance of blessings and joy.’” What the other two pendants on the jar are
rebuses for, I leave for those more knowledgeable to decipher. Observe that two jars feature a floral design combined with a base featuring the gourd & iron crutch of the immortal Li Tieguai; a rectangular box further on in the pictures also features the gourd & crutch, this time with a design of scholar's objects. The cranes are
longevity symbols. [2015 blog post at the link: https://www.beadiste.com/2015/02/puzzling-evidence-red-crowned-crane-in.html
]
An internet search revealed other examples of this jar, some
identical, some differing in small details, some with different decoration
schemes or cloisonne technique (for instance, open work/golden ground). A distinctive characteristic, however, is a
cloisonne base instead of the simple turquoise blue enamel often used. An auction set featuring 3 jars and a tray is illustrated to perhaps give a better idea of what this workshop was capable of, assuming all 4 were acquired at the same time.
There are enough of these cannisters around that I wonder if
they were produced as a group, on commission, perhaps as small gifts, the
distinctly Chinese design with the good fortune symbols perhaps catering to
Chinese recipients rather than foreigners?
Similar jars featuring designs with scholar’s objects also seem likely
to have been targeted to Chinese recipients (foreigners finding dragons more
appealing?). Cloisonne opium boxes, likewise
decorated with scholar’s objects & cloisonne bases, can be readily found
and might have been manufactured by the same workshop, catering to the gentry
and literati? I selected a few from the numerous listings on eBay that feature
a similar construction of the metal base (copper or paktong) upon which the
cloisonne work was done.
At the end of the slides is a comparison between this cannister
and a small, heavy caddy featuring Lao TianLi-style dragons chasing the pearl
of wisdom. This style and weight of this
dragon jar seem consistent with construction around 1900-1920. Is the black
base enamel perhaps an indicator of Yang TianLi manufacture, or by one of the other workshops operating 1890-1920s?
Puzzling evidence.
[Note that pictures can be opened in a new tab and expanded a bit for more detail]
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| Opium box |
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| Listed as an opium box, but the 8 x 4.5 x 8.5cm dimensions could also accommodate the size of cigarettes that were available at the time. |
