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Lot Essay
The present cloisonné enamel vessel illustrates the popularity of archaism during the Qianlong period, and exemplifies some of the finest cloisonné techniques. Its design is based on a Shang dynasty (c. 1600-c. 1046 BC.) vessel prototype, you, which served as a wine-storage or presentation jar and was used in ceremonies honoring the spirit of a deceased ancestor. For an example of a Shang dynasty prototype, see a you excavated at Jiajiacun, Qishan county, Shaanxi province, attributed to the late Shang period, illustrated in Shaanxi chu tu Shang Zhou qingtongqi (Bronzes of Shang and Zhou Dynasties Unearthed in Shaanxi Province), vol.1, Beijing, 1979, pl. 24.
The present cloisonné enamel you would have been a luxury item even at the time when it was made, and the superior quality may suggest an imperial connection or attribution. A virtually identical cloisonné enamel you of very similar size and dated to mid-Qing dynasty was previously in the Qing Court Collection, and illustrated in Metal-bodied Enamel Ware. The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum Vol. 43, Beijing, 2001, p. 155, no. 147. (Fig. 1)
The present cloisonné enamel you would have been a luxury item even at the time when it was made, and the superior quality may suggest an imperial connection or attribution. A virtually identical cloisonné enamel you of very similar size and dated to mid-Qing dynasty was previously in the Qing Court Collection, and illustrated in Metal-bodied Enamel Ware. The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum Vol. 43, Beijing, 2001, p. 155, no. 147. (Fig. 1)