Pair of large Canton famille rose porcelain vases and covers

These fine objects are a pair of large Canton famille rose porcelain vases, fitted with covers and painted in the so-called famille rose style, made in Qing dynasty China in the late nineteenth century.

Crafted for the export market, they are decorated with dense and colourful depictions of courtly scenes in square panels in the centre, a pair of bubbles towards the base, and a further pair of images around the neck. Interspersed are bright and vibrant images of flowers, vines, butterflies and fruit. While the images are painted with a full palette of colour, the predominant enamel is glaze, hence the famille rose classification. Immensely popular in the nineteenth century, Chinese works such as these are remarkable items of cross-cultural artistic production, and elegant collectors' pieces in their own right.