MING DYNASTY, 16TH CENTURY

Imaginative scenes of immortals in landscape settings appeared on cloisonne enamel wares during the second half of the 16th century echoing their use as a decorative motif on 16th century ceramics. Cloisonne examples with the related decoration include a guan featuring the 'Four Occupations of a Literatus' in a terrace setting, and a large vase decorated with Dongwanggong and Xiwangmu attended by the Eight Daoist Immortals in a celestial scene, both illustrated by H. Brinker and A. Lutz, Chinese Cloisonne: The Pierre Uldry Collection, New York, 1989, pls. 92 and 94.