QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

Cloisonné-enamel plaques rendered in ruyi-form are very rare. The quality of the present pair is remarkable for their skilful execution of the details, and the successful use of the varying colour tones of the enamels. The scene with figures paddling on colourful boats with dragon heads was inspired by the jovial dragon boat festival which falls annually on the 5th day of the lunar 5th month. The only other published pair of the same dragon boat scene, from the Avery Brundage Collection (B62M63b), is in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, and one of which is illustrated by B. Quette (ed.), Cloisonné: Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, New York, 2011, p. 54, fig. 3.41. Compare a related ruyi-form panel of a larger size (106 cm. wide) decorated with flowers and an imperial inscription, from the collections of Heber R. Bishop and Robert Chang, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 Years: The Sale, 30 May 2016, lot 3028.