Object Description
The enamel vases in this pair are of ‘garlic head’ form, each sitting on a four-leg, four scrolled foot wooden stand. The vases are of tripartite form. Each vase features a flared neck, an ovoid body, and a pinched stem, and each includes four gilt bronze (ormolu) medallions fashioned into reticulated cloud scroll patterns. Glimpsed through the reticulated medallions of each vase is a smaller, nestled vase, similarly decorated to the external shell. The body of each vase presents a rich blue enamel ground onto which cloisonné enamel motifs, bounded within gold enamel wire, are worked. The motifs are traditional, ranging from lotus scrolls and lotus flowers to ruyi heads, and are executed in a bold green, red, yellow, and pink palette. Upon the neck of each vase are mounted two gilt bronze elephant head mounts.