REIGN OF H.M. EMPEROR MINH MANG (1820-1841). - Lot 46

REIGN OF H.M. EMPEROR MINH MANG (1820-1841). A very rare pair of "phap lam" enamel-on-copper candlesticks with polychrome decoration. The base and upper part are encircled with palm fronds, the body with white background decorated with flowers and a coat of arms inspired by the arms of Muhammad Bahadur II (1775-1862), last emperor of the Mughal dynasty. Four-character mark "Minh Mang Nien Tao" 明命年造 under the base. Vietnam, Hué imperial workshops, 19th century. Height: 12.5 cm. Diameter: 15.8 cm and height: 12.4 cm. Diameter: 15.5 cm. (Accidents, missing parts, restorations). For an identical piece, see the collection of the Musée des Antiquités Royales de Hué - inventory number BTH/861/ĐG-12. Testifying to Emperor Minh Mang's pronounced taste for export pieces, these two candlesticks are extremely rare on the market. An identical example is currently on display at the Museum of Royal Antiquities in Hué, the only other known similar piece. The coat-of-arms decoration on these two objects, although inspired by the arms of Prince Bahadur, has no connection with the Indian royal family. Here, they serve a strictly decorative function, and are more an interpretation than a copy (the original coat of arms is flanked on the left by an elephant and on the right by a leopard, whereas the Vietnamese version depicts an elephant and a tiger). The depiction of these two animals facing each other recalls the battles organized under the Nguyen dynasty, pitting the elephant, symbol of purity and wisdom, against the tiger, symbol of evil and ferocity. The enigmatic use of this iconography is often explained by this connection and by the Emperor's personal taste for European ceramics and Compagnie des Indes porcelain. The choice to depict an elephant in white has sometimes been interpreted as a deliberate choice to magnify the animal's purity. However, one of the two examples presented here demonstrates that this was not a systematic use, and that the grey elephant was also represented on this type of piece.