LATE 18TH-19TH CENTURY

The transparent blue enamel on this box is referred to as basse-taille (guang falang), a technique that was introduced to Guandong enamel workers in the 18th century, and used primarily during the Qianlong period. One of a pair of basins decorated in this technique, with gold and silver foil and transparent blue enamel on a copper body, which was sent as tribute from Guangzhou to Beijing, is illustrated by Chuimei Ho and Bennet Bronson in Splendors of China's Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong, London/New York, 2004, p. 263, fig. 341. In the illustration one can see decoration through the transparent enamel, and on the present box and cover can be seen very fine stippling or texture in the silver body. See, also, the silver-gilt and blue basse-taille enamel seal box and cover decorated with dragons contesting flaming pearls, and dated to the Qing dynasty, illustrated in Gugong Zhenbao, Beijing, 2004, pp. 64-65.