AN EXCEPTIONAL PASTE-INSET GILT-BRONZE REPOUSSE VASE QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD |

meticulously cast with an ovoid body rising from a short splayed foot to a waisted neck and galleried rim, the neck flanked by a pair of chilong handles depicted in angular scrollwork, the body decorated in repoussé with a central frieze enclosing four large floral blooms wreathed by curling foliage bearing small florets, between a band of foliate lappets with stylised ruyi heads and two key-fret borders, the design with highlights vibrantly inset with multi-coloured glass paste

Sotheby's Chester, 11th January 1984.

From the beginning of the Qing dynasty, interest in foreign curiosities increased among the court and the demand for elaborately decorated luxury goods made in a European style escalated. The style and techniques employed for this lavish vase suggest it was produced in Guangzhou, a city that had considerable access to foreign material goods as it served as a main crossroads for foreign trade. The Guangzhou craftsmen were masters at adopting and adapting Western techniques into their repertoire to create pieces that captured a likeness of the original foreign goods while retaining a Chinese essence. Originally a technique employed on small snuff boxes, pocket watches and clocks imported from Europe to China in the 18th century as gifts to the Imperial court, Chinese craftsmen in both the imperial palace and Guangzhou quickly embraced and emulated these Western techniques on Chinese forms while combining motifs from both, as seen on the present vase. Ornate gilt-metal objects richly embellished with coloured glass-paste stones that imitate precious stones such as emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds, attracted the attention of the Qianlong Emperor, who commissioned many impressive pieces for the palace to be made. Smaller items were selected as tribute to the court. Compare vases of this type, of various shapes and designs, such as a baluster example, from the Gordon Getty collection, sold in our New York rooms, 18th September 2007, lot 151, and again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28th May 2014, lot 3011; and a large double-gourd vase sold at Christie’s New York, 19th March 2008, lot 369. Compare also a glass paste-inset incense burner with closely related decoration in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the exhibition Limpid Radiance. A Special Exhibition of Glass Artifacts from the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei, 2016, cat. no.  149. A related set of eight auspicious Buddhist emblems, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the Museum’s Special Exhibition of Buddhist Gilt Votive Objects, Taipei, 1995, cat. no. 30; and a hat stand was sold in our New York rooms, 14th September 2009, lot 228.