THE PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE ENGLISH COLLECTION. This extremely rare lidded vase has one of the most complex profiles and diverse decorative schemes of any extant Qianlong cloisonné enamel vessel. No vase of exactly the same form appears to have been published. However, it is interesting to note similarities between the current vase and a cloisonné kendi in the collection of the Palace Museum Beijing (illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum 43 Metal-bodied Enamel Wares, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 115, no. 111). Like the current vase, the kendi has an incised four-character Qianlong mark, inside a double square. Although the kendi has a more pear-shaped body, in contrast to the more spherical body of the vase, the foot, stem and lower body are of the same form. The foot is domed with two registers and has an under-cut edge, the stem swells and then narrows to join the under part of the body. The body of both vessels is slightly constricted above the lotus petal band which encircles the lower part of the body where it joins the stem, and is constricted again about one third up the sides of the body. The Palace kendi not only shares with the current vase the lotus petal band, but also has a plantain leaf band around the neck. The floral scroll around the swollen area of the stem on the kendi is also of similar style to that around the lower part of the vase, above the lotus petal band. While the form of the lower part of the vase accords with vessels, such as the kendi, the upper part of the vase with its swelling section at the lowest part of the neck is very unusual. Some parallels can be drawn with the form of the neck on an imperial Qianlong vase decorated with a combination of cloisonné and painted enamels in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (illustrated in Enamel Ware in the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties, Taipei, 1999, p. 114, no. 37). While the wider section on this latter vase is larger and does not constrict to the same extent as the current vase, the separation of the section is clear. It is tempting to wonder if the maker of this vase had perhaps been inspired by another vessel, which had entered China from the West - either the Islamic West, or even Europe - and had combined aspects of Chinese design with those of another culture. Another possibility is that the maker of the vase was attempting to equalize the form and to give the neck a swelling section - albeit it smaller - in order to balance that of the stem. A number of imperial Qianlong cloisonné vessels, including some related to Buddhist rituals, with four-character incised marks, share with the current vase the use of different coloured ground for different bands of the decoration. A milk ewer in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in The Complete collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum 43 Metal-bodied Enamel Wares, op. cit., p. 113, no. 109) has a multi-register domed lid, and, like the current vase, one of those registers has a cobalt blue ground, in contrast to the turquoise ground of the rest of the lid. This milk ewer also shares with the vase certain lotus scroll forms. Another ritual vessel, which shares with the current vase different coloured backgrounds for certain decorative bands is a benpa ewer in the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated op. Cit., p. 114, no. 110), which also has a constricted lower body and includes both lotus petals bands and lotus scrolls in its decoration. The current vase is unusual in having decorative bands with three different ground colours - turquoise, cobalt blue, and white. However these three background colours can also be seen on a single vessel dating to the second half of the 17th century - a flower pot in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (illustrated in Enamel Ware in the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties, op. cit., pp. 94-5, no. 24). Three different background colours were also used on a Qianlong cloisonn jar in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (illustrated op. cit. p. 158, no. 71), on which the three colours are green, turquoise, and cobalt blue. Very occasionally four background colours were used in the Qianlong reign, as in the case of a ewer in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum, New York (illustrated in B. Quette (ed.), Cloisonné - Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, New York, 2011, p. 212, Fig. 10.29), which has decorative bands with turquoise, cobalt blue, red, and yellow backgrounds. Like many cloisonné enamel vessels, and other decorative arts, of the Qianlong reign, the current vase has decoration reflecting the Emperor's interest in antiquity, which found expression in archaism. Both the main decorative band around the body and the white background band on the upper part of the neck are decorated with scrolls composed of archaistic kui dragons. The white background band on the foot of the vessel is decorated with a motif based upon archaistic birds. While the decoration reflected imperial interest in antiquity, it also reflected advances in enamel technology. In addition to effective use of the established colour palette of turquoise, blue, red, yellow and green, the design includes the pink and purple enamels, which were the result of more recent experimentation at the imperial enamel workshops. The gilt mask handles on the sides of the neck of the current vase were a popular feature of cloisonné vessels in the Qing dynasty and can be seen on vessels such as the early Qing vase in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, (illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum 43 Metal-bodied Enamel Wares, op. cit., p. 92, no. 89), and a Qianlong flask from the same collection (illustrated ibid. p. 105, no. 102). It is more unusual to find a gilded reticulated lid finial on a vase, but the cloud finial on the current vase appears to have been influenced by larger gilded reticulated finials on Qianlong censers, like the fangding in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (illustrated in Enamel Ware in the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties, op. cit., pp. 142-3, no. 59). Like the larger reticulated finials, the finial on the lid of the current vase emanates from a lotus base. This remarkable and rare vase displays an effective melding of tradition, archaism and innovation that reflects the major themes of cloisonn enamel production in the reign of the Qianlong emperor.

AN EXTREMELY RARE CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL BALUSTER VASE AND COVER

QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER MARK WITHIN A DOUBLE-SQUARE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Details

AN EXTREMELY RARE CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL BALUSTER VASE AND COVER
QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER MARK WITHIN A DOUBLE-SQUARE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)
The vessel is modelled with a bulbous mid-section below a tall cylindrical neck that rises to a flaring mouth rim, all supported on a splayed foot. The handles on each side of the vase are shaped in the form of monster masks suspending loose rings. The exterior of the mid-section is elaborately decorated with a band of archaistic dragons, above a colourful band of stylised lotus scrolls. There is a band of upright leaves encircling the neck, set between floral scrolls. The foot is similarly decorated with floral scrolls, set on a tapered base. The cover is enamelled with archaistic designs surmounted by an openwork finial depicting scrolling clouds.
18 in. (45.7 cm.) high

Provenance

Acquired from Hardiman of Royston, 27th August 1955 and thence by descent.

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