A cloisonné enamel turquoise-ground pear-shaped vase, yuhuchunping - Late 15th/early 16th century

The globular body rising from a splayed foot to a cylindrical neck with flared rim, enamelled overall with a design of colourful lotus blooms borne on a leafy meander against a rich turquoise ground, with lotus lappets at the base and foot, flanked on either side by a mask handle, the base and rim richly gilded, wood stand and fitted box. 21cm (8¼in) high (3). Estimate: £40,000 - 60,000

Footnote: Cloisonné enamel vases of this form are rare. The style of the lotus scrolls and lappets on the present example are consistent with fifteenth century design, as can be seen on a turquoise-ground censer with dragon handles in the National Palace Museum, illustrated in Enamel Ware in the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties, Taipei, 1999, p.67; and another related example in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated by H. Garner, Chinese and Japanese Cloisonné Enamels, London, 1962, pl. 14. A bottle vase of related form with applied dragon-shaped handles and decorated with interlocking sprays of lotus in the Palace Museum, Beijing is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, Catalogue no.2.

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Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, 12 May 2008. New Bond Street