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33. RARE GILT-BRONZE AND ENAMEL INLAID
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The conjoined baluster-shaped vases are decorated with a dense relief Indian lotus scroll inlaid with turquoise and brilliant cobalt toned enamel. The limbs and tails of geometrically scrolling stylized dragons join both vessels. Applied relief lions, goat’s head, double ropes at the necks and a stylized phoenix complete the scheme of decorative relief. A lotus panel in white turquoise and blue adorns the bases of the vases. The matching stand is applied with relief scrolls of archaistic design The marks are cast in two four-character groups, one on each base. One other very rare vase of identical design, possibly the pair to the current example, is illustrated by Helmut Brinker and Albert Lutz, Chinese Cloisonné: The Pierre Uldry Collection, no. 304, also with a mark dated to 1786. These vases belong to a small group of enamel wares which are are not strictly made in the cloisonné or champlevé techniques widely used in metalwork of the Qianlong period. For a pair of champlevé-gilt bronze double vases of very similar design, see Christie’s London, 13 November 2001, Catalogue, lot 167. This technique may be compared with a series of gilt-bronzes inlaid with jades and semi-precious stones. Compare with two ding-shaped censers inlaid with enamel, turquoise and white jade, included in A Special Exhibition of Buddhist Gilt Votive Objects, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1995, catalogue nos. 18 and 19. |
