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A Chinese pair of gilded famille-rose Abstinence plaques, each…
Sale Title:
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Melbourne
Date:
25-Oct-2015
Lot No.
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Description:
A Chinese pair of gilded famille-rose Abstinence plaques, each within a quatrefoil raised border and outer field of flower scroll on a blue-green ground, a central cartouche enclosing the script in black enamel zhai jie in Mandarin to one side and while on the similarly decorated reverse, the inscription is in Manchu, with fitted box, 7 cm long/each. Catalogue note, small abstinence plaques, inscribed in this way, were a physical sign of the ceremonial requirement for abstinence before worship of ancestors, the Heavens or other deities. The required abstinence involved refraining from eating meat and fragrant herbs such as onions, chives and garlic, consuming alcohol, and from any intimate acts, and usually lasted for three days., Devotional in origin, the small plaque would have functioned as a private aide-memoire to the wearer to abstain from earthly pleasures, but became in itself a thing of beauty to be admired publicly and to enhance the status of the wearer.
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Unclassified