A VERY LARGE AND RARE CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL 'WATER BUFFALO AND HERDBOY' INCENSE BURNER AND COVER18th century The 'water buffalo' modelled standing with its head turned back, the black body with pale patches and inlaid with wavy gilded cloisons representing the patterned skin and hair, surmounted by a gilded figure of a seated herdboy playing a flute, removable, as the cover of the incense burner. 40.5cm (15 15/16in) long, 42.9cm (16 7/8in) high. (2). 十八世紀 銅胎掐絲琺琅「牧童水牛」蓋爐 Provenance : Sir Michael Oppenheimer (3rd Baronet, 1924-2020) and Lady Helen Oppenheimer DD (1926-2022), and thence by descent 來源 ：Michael Oppenheimer 爵士（三代從男爵，1924-2020年）與Helen Oppenheimer爵士夫人（1926-2022年）舊藏，並由後人保存迄今 The collection belonged to Sir Michael and Lady Oppenheimer DD (3rd Baronet, 1924-2020). Sir Michael's maternal grandparents were Sir Robert Grenville Harvey, 2nd Baronet (1856-1931) and Lady Emily Blanche Harvey (1872-1935) of Langley Park, Buckinghamshire. The Chinese art collection can be, at least in part, traced back to Langley Park, Buckinghamshire, home to the Harvey Baronets from 1788 until 1945, as demonstrated in a pre-1945 photograph showing Lot 122, the cloisonné enamel tripod 'elephant' incense burner, Qianlong. Sir Michael Oppenheimer's paternal family was the well-known South African mining family. The baronetcy was created in 1921 for Bernard Oppenheimer, Chairman of the South African Diamond Corporation for setting up diamond sorting factories to employ wounded ex-servicemen after the First World War. The family has been involved with De Beers over many decades. Lady Oppenheimer DD (1926-2022) was a distinguished moral and philosophical theologian, with a particular interest in the ethics pertaining to personal relations. Incense burners ofparable size and with designs as the present lot are rare. For a nearly identical but mirror image of this lot, a possible pair with this lot, see a cloisonné enamel 'buffalo and boy' incense burner and cover, 18th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acc.no.30.128.2a–c. The refined quality of the enamels decorating the present buffalo and boy group highlights its skilful representation of an auspicious scene in the natural world. The reclining buffalo, a symbol of strength and tranquillity, is also associated with spring and agriculture because of its role in pulling ploughs. According to scholarly research, from the Ming dynasty, buffaloes were often depicted at rest with their head turned 90 degrees, as seen in the present lot, to indicate that the world was at peace; see J.C.S.Lin, The Immortal Stone , Cambridge, 2009, p.51. As a familiar beast of the fields, the buffalo underpinned rice production and the rural economy. As such, the creature is emblematic of agriculture and spring time and represents strength, endurance, dedication to hard work, prosperity and tranquillity. When depicted with a young boy riding on its back, this motif represents obed