A large cloisonné enamel 'dragon' vase (Tianqiuping), Qing dynasty, late Qianlong period | 清乾隆末 掐絲琺瑯穿花游龍紋天球瓶

The present cloisonné enamel tianqiuping is notable not only for its large size, but also the spectacular decoration of a large ferocious scaly five-clawed dragon chasing a flaming pearl, all in relief. No other closely related example appears to be recorded, although vases decorated with dragon is known from a similarly large cloisonné vase of this form decorated with lotus scroll design, from the Laurent Héliot Collection sold twice at Christie's London, 11th December 1989, lot 260, and again, 9th June 1997, lot 277, and a third time in these rooms, 13th July 2005, lot 213. See also a smaller vase of this shape decorated with butterflies among large blooming flowers on a turquoise-ground, from the Qing Court Collection and still in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 97; and a larger tianqiuping, attributed to the 18th century, from the collection of Helen Phelps Stokes Merrill (1905-2004), sold in our New York rooms, 22nd March 2022, lot 275,

Cloisonné enamel vases of this shape and decoration continued to be produced throughout the Qing dynasty; for example, see a large cloisonné tianqiuping with the dragon in red enamels and the clouds in blue against a white-ground, attributed to the mid-Qing period, included in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, op.cit., pl. 146; and another decorated with nine scaly dragons amongst tumultuous waves on a turquoise-ground illustrated in Zhongguo jin yin boli falangqi quanji, Shijiazhuang, 2002, pl. 278, attributed to the late Qing period.