A Pair of 19th Century Qing Dynasty Cloisonne Bottle Vases

A pair of early 19th century cloisonne bottle vases, the bodies each with polychrome decoration of stylised flowers upon a turquoise ground.

The earliest recording of cloisonné stems from the Yunnan region during the Yuan Dynasty, where, under Mogul rule, Islamic influences were married with Chinese traditions. Originally used for small items and jewellery, items soon became bigger and more grand.

The technique of crafting cloisonné pieces rests in the skill of creating bronze or copper enclosures which are then filled with a coloured glass paste; just as the name suggests (‘cloisons’ meaning ‘partitions’ in French). The firing process had to be repeated various times to account for the shrinking of the glass during the heating process. Following this, the object was polished until the metal edges revealed themselves once more. Originally crafted to decorate temples and palaces, their decorative appeal remains so in secular contexts today.

Qing Dynasty, Jiaqing Period (1796 – 1820)