RARE CANTON ENAMEL DOUBLE-SIDED TALISMANIC ZODIAC BAR, YONGZHENG / QIANLONG PERIOD

RARE CANTON ENAMEL DOUBLE-SIDED TALISMANIC ZODIAC BAR, YONGZHENG / QIANLONG PERIOD, of geometric shape, the central rectangular section showing a snake in a diamond-shaped panel, flanked on each side by overlapping diamond-shaped sections with further zodiac figures and diaper patterns, 24.5cm long Provenance: Sir Harry Garner KBE CBE. Bluett & Sons, London, 13th July 1984 Exhibited: Gillingham, M., Chinese Painted Enamels, Ashmolean Museum 1978, no.82. Note: this unusual bar may have been hung above a child's cradle to ward off evil.