444.
A PAIR OF LARGE CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL VASES, HU
Qing dynasty, Qianlong period
72,5 cm high each
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. nn. 4296, 5309.
Both standing on a circular foot, the globular body rising to a tapering cylindrical neck, the base and the mouth with a brass ring embellished with a leiwen frieze, the whole external surface worked with polychrome enamels on a geometrical motif on a turquoise ground, the decoration consisting of a continuous scene with the flowers associated with the four seasons (spring-peony, summer-lotus, autumn-chrysanthemum, winter-plum) together with cranes and other birds flying or standing on branches.
These vases are particularly noticeable not only for the quality of the decoration and the brilliancy of the enamels, but also for their imposing dimensions and the elegance of their shape.
The hu shape (a bulbous body progressively narrowing from to shoulder to the neck) was in the repertory of Chinese bronzes already from the Shang dynasty, widely adopted in the following centuries and especially during the Han dynasty when it changed assuming formal characteristics more similar to those exemplified by this pair of cloisonné enamelled vases.
For a similar ‘flowers and birds’ decoration encircling a medallion with an imperial poem on a smaller baluster vase, see Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum. Enamels II. Cloisonné in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Beijing 2011, pl. 62.
