Rare imperial Beijing piece from the 1700s, and sabre owned by Napoleon’s brother, sold at auction
For the month that’s in it, when all things culinary are celebrated in The Irish Times during November’s Food Month, it is almost fitting that on November 2nd, a teapot achieved in excess of €2 million.
The “exceptionally rare and important imperial Beijing enamel melon-shaped” receptacle from the Qianlong period, dating to about 1738, from the collection of Mrs EA Parry, and thence by descent, is the only example of this unique form and type to remain in a private collection.
The two other examples reside at the National Palace Museum, Taipei and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri.
An archival record shows that a single enamel teapot was created and a further pair was subsequently made by order of the emperor; according to Bonhams, which conducted the sale, this proves that the teapot was made in the imperial enamel workshop early in the Qianlong reign.
