AN EXTREMELY RARE CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL QUADRILOBED BOX AND COVER, QIANLONG FIVE-CHARACTER MARK AND OF THE PERIODChina, 1736-1795. Supported on a flaring foot, the cover decorated with a central blossom encircled by four lotus flowers issuing meandering vines, the foot with further lotus and vines above a band of floral sprays, all above a turquoise ground, the interior, base, and rims in gilt. The recessed base incised with a five-character markQianlong nianzhi xuan and of the period.Provenance: From a noted private collection in Geneva, Switzerland, assembled since the 1960s, and thence by descent. An important part of this collection was on permanent loan and exhibited over several decades at the Asia-Africa Museum in Geneva. The interior of the cover with three old labels, ‘18’, ‘Signé Kun-Lung Impérial’, and ‘Geneve Art Ancien Chine & Extro-Orient. 2762 TFA’, and a lacquered inventory number ‘AMA-2762/2’. The interior of the bowl with three old labels, ‘Signé Kung Lung Impérial’, ‘K. Ming 1736-95’, and ‘Asia-Africa Museum Geneve’, and lacquered with an inventory number ‘AMA-2762/2’. The base with an old label, ‘Signé Kien Lung Impérial’. Two old paper labels with collection notes, one numbered ‘No 276/TFA’ and the other ‘No 2757/TFA’. According to the collector’s personal notes, the present lot was acquired on 13 October 1972. A copy of the corresponding entry in the collector’s notebook apanies this lot.Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, few small nicks and light scratches, and manufacturing flaws, such as scattered pitting.Weight: 140.0 gDimensions: Length 6.6 cmThe present lot belongs to a group of small cloisonné vases, censers, and instruments (luping sanshi) which were made for the burning of incense had an additional character below the reign mark and were made for the Qianlong court. Some scholars have suggested that the fifth character under the Qianlong mark could have been a way to number the large group of objects in a correct order, see H. Brinker and A. Lutz, Chinese Cloisonné: The Pierre Uldry Collection, New York, 1989, pp. 74-79.The form of this four-lobed box supported by a broad foot rim directly references the crabapple (haitang), which could bebined with other emblems to create auspicious rebuses. Its second character, ‘tang’, is homophonous with the character for ‘hall’ and, by extension, ‘the family home’. For examples of Imperial objects of the Qing court of related haitang shape, see a bamboo tray at Hong Kong, 24 November 2012, lot 323 (see fig. 1), and a pair of gilt bronze and cloisonne jardinieres at London, 8 November 2012, lot 250 (see fig. 2).Auction resultparison:Type: Closely relatedAuction: Christie’s New York, 24 September 2021, lot 930Price: USD 25,000 or approx.EUR 26,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writingDescription: A small cloisonné enamel circular box and cover,