Gourd-shaped Ewer with Gold Floral Patterns, Qianlong reign (1736-1795), Qing dynasty (1644-1911), silver and gold, height: 48 cm, mouth diameter: 7.5 cm © The Palace Museum. 

In the form of a gourd, the silver ewer has a pagoda-shape cover and a long spout decorated with a dragon extending from the lower segment of the gourd. Its cover is embossed with many lotus. The body of the gourd is incised with three sets of patterns from the top to the bottom. Each features a larger gilded stylized lotus surrounded by six smaller ones. The upper segment of the gourd has two dividing lines, between which are two circles of leaf patterns. The foot bears a six-character Qianlong reign mark written in regular script (kai shu) in a rectangular frame. Of a relatively large size, this ewer was used by the emperor during hunting outside the imperial palace.