Attributed to Ferdinand Barbedienne 1810-1892 A French 'Chinoiserie' gilt-bronze mounted Chinese cloisonné enamel jardinière, France, late 19th/early 20th century, the cloisonné bowl, Chinese, Guangxu period

the gilt-bronze mounts with dragon-cast handles, Chinese seal marks to the underside

Impressive vessels of this type, products of the Imperial Palace Workshops, were made for the furnishing of the many gardens and courtyards located within the grounds of the Forbidden City in Beijing. A wide range of colors include the use of the six major tones - red, yellow, blue, green, white and black, were employed for the present flourishing decor of blooming flowers and butterflies.

See also a cloisonné enamel fishbowl decorated with a continuous aquatic scene, similarly attributed to the early Qing period, also in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in Zhongguo jin yin boli falangqi quanji, op.cit., pl. 187; and a vessel of quatrefoil section, each decorated in the cloisonné enamel technique with scenes of birds and flowers of the four seasons within a formal lotus panel motif, placed on a stand also made by Ferdinand Barbedienne (1810-1892). Barbedienne, who had a great interest in Chinese and Japanese metalwork and enamel and studied them carefully, is best known for his reproductions in cast bronze of sculptural masterpieces of antiquity and the Renaissance. He experimented with cloisonné and champlevé enamelling in the Chinese style as well. For further reading on Barbedienne see The Second Empire: Art in France under Napoleon III, Philadelphia, 1978, pp. 114-115.

A large Cloisonné enamel jardinière on stand with the same dragons cast handles signed F. BARBEDIENNE sold Sotheby's Hong Kong, April 4, 2012, lot 3219.