A pair of large cloisonné enamel baluster vases


Qianlong seal marks, Qing DynastyEach with tapering neck flanked by a pair of dragon handles, enamelled to one side with chrysanthemum, peony and prunus borne on gnarled trees and with perched birds, the other side with a lotus pond alternating with a flying crane, together with two double-tiered Japanese cinnabar lacquer stands, Meiji period. The vases 74.8cm (29 3/8in) high; the stands 77.4cm (30 1/2in) high (4).
|清 銅胎掐絲琺瑯鴛鴦花石圖大瓶一對「大清乾隆年製」篆書鑄款Provenance: acquired prior to 29 November 1984 (date of Spink & Son Ltd., London valuation)An English private collection, and thence by descent來源： 購於1984年11月29日前（記錄於倫敦古董商Spink & Son Ltd.之估價文件）英國私人收藏，並由後人保存迄今The present lot depicts floral designs of the four seasons on a wan-diaper background. Chrysanthemums, closely associated with the hermetic poet Tao Qian 陶潛 (365-427), represent autumn; peonies symbolise late spring and early summer; plum blossoms represent winter or early spring and symbolise strength and endurance. The lotus, extolled in a famous essay by Zhou Dunyi 周敦頤 (1017-1073), represents summer and symbolises purity. For a related cloisonné enamel vase with double handles and floral designs of the four seasons on a wan-diaper ground, but of hexagonal form, mid Qing dynasty, see Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Enamels 3, Beijing, 2011, p.187, no.152. Compare with a large cloisonné enamel 'birds and flowers' vase, with similar Qianlong cast six-character seal mark within double rectangles and of the period, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2221.