QIANLONG INCISED FOUR-CHARACTER MARKS WITHIN DOUBLE-SQUARES AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

The current pair of vases is exceedingly rare in terms of their form and decoration, and no other example appears to have been published to date. The current pair are comparable to vessels very likely to have been part of a five-piece altar set used during rituals in the palace. The gilding on the current vases is relatively thick, suggesting a later date of manufacture during the Qianlong reign. According to palace records, on the 33rd year of the Qianlong reign onwards, the Emperor recognised that the gilding on imperial cloisonné enamel wares was too thin, and demanded that all future cloisonné enamel works should be gilded at least three times. As such metalwork of this type tended to be more heavily gilded.

The unusual shape of the current vases is undoubtedly inspired by archaic bronze vessels, such as the Western Zhou zun of square section illustrated in Xiqing Gujian, 'Inspection of Antiques' (fig. 1). However the current vases are cast with noticably more angular contours, and embellished with additional contemporaneous decorative elements. Instead of flanges on four sides which are commonly found on archaistic cloisonné enamel gu vases as well as their archaic prototypes, the present vase is set with a pair of scroll handles on both the neck and the foot, simulating flanges but with a degree of simplicity. Of particular interest are the frontal dragons decorating the four sides of the vases. While at first glance they appear as the usual ferocious five-clawed dragons seen on many imperial Qing ceramics and works of art, they are in fact abstract forms with scroll-like bodies and claws morphing into tendrils, reminiscent of archaic Shang and Zhou bronzes decorated with abstract dragon motifs dissolving into a geometric ground. The present pair is a particularly attractive example with innovative melding of archaic and contemporaneous decorative schemes.