Large Antique Chinese Famille Rose Yenyen Vase, Guangxu Period C.1880

Form: Yenyen (燕燕瓶) — baluster body, splayed foot, widely everted trumpet neck
42 cm height

Decoration: Famille rose (fěncǎi) throughout; bird and flower subject — golden pheasants, peonies, prunus, ivy, songbirds; yellow-ground scrolling lotus neck; peach-cartouche shoulder band; lappet foot; ruyi rim

Palette: White ground body; imperial yellow-ground neck; pink, turquoise, coral, aubergine, green enamels
Base mark: Iron-red six-character seal script apocryphal Qianlong reign mark (大清乾隆年製) within double rectangular border

Period: Guangxu, c.1880–1905
Origin: Jingdezhen, China

The base bears a six-character iron-red seal script reign mark within a double rectangular border reading 大清乾隆年製(Dà Qīng Qiánlóng Nián Zhì "Made in the Qianlong reign of the Great Qing"), an apocryphal mark applied in the Guangxu period as a mark of aesthetic allegiance to the great 18th-century imperial tradition, a convention universally recognised and entirely consistent with the finest Guangxu workshop production.

Condition: Good throughout; glaze bright and enamel colours vivid. No chips, cracks, or restoration.

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