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Canton enamel gu vase
Qianlong mark and period, 1736 – 1795
Height: 18.7 cm | 7 3/8 in
Click image for full-size version
This vase takes the shape of an archaic bronze gu wine vessel, with flaring foot, bulbous mid-section, and a slender neck that broadens to a wide mouth. Stylised flowers, in the famille rose palette, are enamelled all over – in varying shapes and sizes – upon a white ground. The vase is further adorned with vertical green leaves – upright on the neck, and pendant on the foot – whilst the mouth’s interior is enamelled a pale turquoise. Vertical metal flanges decorate the bulbous middle, and these are gilt – as are the mouth and foot rims. The base bears a four-character Qianlong reign mark, within a double square.
Similar examples: Enamel Ware in the Ming and Ch’ing Dynasties, The National Palace Museum Collection, by Chen Hsia-Sheng, Taiwan, 1999 – figure 140.
The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, The Commercial Press (Hong Kong) Ltd., 2001 – no. 199 illustrates an enamelled loop- handled teapot with similar decoration, of the Qianlong period; floral medallions were popular in Qianlong’s reign – having first appeared during the Yongzheng period.
Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong: Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Forbidden City Publishing, 1989 – figure 45 (in the Yongzheng section) illustrates a porcelain vase (also with similar floral decoration).
Chinese Painted Enamels of the 18th Century, The Chinese Porcelain Company, New York 1993 – catalogue no. 12 illustrates an enamel bowl painted with a similar design (identified as having been made in Guangzhou). It has been suggested that this group of painted vessels were made as tribute items for the court – and it is likely that they came from the same workshop.
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