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Lot Essay
The present lot belongs to a very small and rare group of unmarked painted enamel wares referred by Yang Boda from the Beijing Palace Museum as the earliest experimental Beijing enamelled wares made at the palace enamel workshops during the Kangxi period. In his essay 'A Preliminary Study of Enamel-Painted Wares with Reign Marks of Kangxi', Palace Museum Journal, Beijing, 1980, Yang notes that this group of early enamelled wares share similar characteristics such as thick enamelling, free painting style, slightly uneven surface and relatively heavy metal body, attributes which could also be seen on the current vase. It is interesting to note the use of the gilt decorations in highlighting the scene on the vase. It creates a pleasing visual contrast to the matte enamel colours and this decorative technique appears to be a distinctive feature on this rare group of early panted enamel wares.
Compare to two related unmarked examples also enamelled in a similar palette against a white ground and attributed to the early Qing period. The first is a meiping decorated with figures from the Palace Museum, illustrated in Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 171 (fig. 1); the other is a meiping adorned with immortals in celestial paradise, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2330 (fig. 2).
Compare to two related unmarked examples also enamelled in a similar palette against a white ground and attributed to the early Qing period. The first is a meiping decorated with figures from the Palace Museum, illustrated in Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 171 (fig. 1); the other is a meiping adorned with immortals in celestial paradise, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2330 (fig. 2).