Vase

Chinese cloisonne enamel vase (huagu) in two sections. Quadrangular beaker shape with everted base and flaring rim. An early example, fashioned in the form of hieratic ornament after an ancient bronze ritual vessel, prototypes of which are known to date from the Zhou Dynasty. All four sides and corners are buttressed with vertical dentated ribs or aretes (in Chinese fei-chi) of bronze, showing an unusual cham-leve incrusted enamel enrichment.The cloisonne (Chinese: 珐蓝 falan) decoration on the body is composed with ascending leaf motifs that appear on upper and lower sections in green, relieved by scrolling details in varied tones of blue, red and yellow including red color from crushed Chinese rubies. The small middle section on four sides reveals mask-like lineaments of the "dreaded land ogre," (Chinese: 饕餮紋 taotie wen), an ancient hieratic design, introduced assumably as an admonition against gluttonous evils. The lower flanges of the base uniformly sustain archaic cloisonne bird headed scrolls, and the turquoise blue interior involves lotus flowers amid leafy scrolls executed in varied cloisonne enamel colors peculiar to its provenance. This specimen of Chinese 景泰蓝 "Jingtailan" may be characterized as most notable for its inimitable colors, among which may be seen typical lapis lazuli and turquoise blue tones, varied greens, red, and yellow. It dates to the era of Emperor Jingtai (景泰) of the Ming Dynasty (1449 - 1456 CE).