QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1796)

A pair of very similar silver wire-inlaid zitan and cloisonné ‘palace lanterns’ is illustrated in Qinggong jiucang zitan jiaju jingcui (Selected Masterpieces of Zitan Furniture Formerly in the Qing Imperial Collection), Beijing, 2011, p. 61. Authors Hu Desheng and Zong Fengying note that silver wire inlay technique is unique to workshops in Weifang, Shandong, and such lanterns were probably commissioned by the imperial workshops.