A CANTON ENAMEL CIRCULAR TRIPOD CENSER SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

cast in the form of a fish basket, the censer of compressed circular form resting on three rounded feet and rising to a waisted neck and flared mouth, flanked at the sides by a pair of hemispherical gilt-metal loop handles, enamelled in vibrant multi-coloured tones, the exterior with six large lotus blooms on a continuous meandering leafy scroll interspersed with smaller blooms and florets, below stiff pendant leaves, beads and ‘C’-shaped scrolls around the shoulder, the neck with alternating buds and ruyi-heads, all on a turquoise-blue ground, the rim gilt, the interior of the neck turquoise, the base with the six-character mark in gilt

It is rare to find painted Canton enamel vessels so closely resembling actual cloisonné pieces.  The wares are based on patterns found on Canton cloisonné where the decoration appears to have more negative space on the turquoise blue ground than ones made in the Beijing Palace Workshops; see a cloisonné bowl and a box and cover, both exhibited in Tributes From Guangdong to the Qing Court, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1987, cat nos. 33 and 34. 

See a 'Da Ji' double gourd vase with painted enamel decoration and a Jiaqing marked bowl and cover with similar decoration to the present lot, both illustrated in ibid. nos. 43 and 48.