QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER MARKS IN BLUE ENAMEL WITHIN DOUBLE RECTANGLES AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Painted enamels were known as ‘foreign enamels’. The technique was developed in Europe in Flanders at the borders between Belgium, France and Netherlands. In late 15th century the town Limoges, in west central France, became the centre for enamel production. As the maritime trade flourished between East and West, enamels were introduced to China via the trading port Canton (Guangzhou). The Qing court then set up Imperial ateliers to produce enamelled metal wares in the Kangxi period. In the early period, due to insufficient technical knowledge, only small vessels were made, with limited palette and murky colours. By the late Kangxi period, a wider range of brighter and purer colours became available, resulting in clearer decorations and a higher level of technical sophistication.
These exquisitely decorated vases represent some of the finest enamel works from the Qianlong period. The elaborate design, incorporating foreign elements such as the rococo-style foliage can be traced back to works made in the Yongzheng period. Compare with another Qianlong lobed vase decorated with cartouches depicting European figures, also reserved against a densely painted floral ground, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in the Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Enamels 5, Beijing, 2011, p. 297, no. 234 (fig.1).