A FINE AND VERY RARE GILT-BRONZE CHAMPLEVÉ AND CANTON ENAMEL WALL VASE China, Qianlong period H. 21 cm Canton enamel plaque inlaid on the front with ladies playing music on a balustrade in a garden landscape. North German private collection, assembled prior 2007 During the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, the manufacture of champlevé, cloisonné and painted enamel products flourished to achieve its most sophisticated level in both range and quality. Palace archival records confirm that huge quantities of enamel wares were produced with a wide range of designs which included luxurious and eye-catching pieces such as this pair of vases. Yang Boda in the catalogue to the exhibition Tributes from Guangdong to the Qing Court, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1987, p. 54, notes the high quality and quantity of champlevé wares made in Guangzhou, adding that they were ‘second to none during the whole Qing dynasty…’. Guangzhou had indeed become an important artistic center as craftsmen active there were in close contact with European missionaries and traders bringing to China new and innovative techniques. Wares made in this foreign technique were much sought after by the imperial household, hence a large number of champlevé wares were sent as tribute gift to the court in Beijing. Champlevé wall vases are rare, although a pair of double-gourd wall vases decorated with bajixiang and auspicious characters, from the collection of Robert H. and Clarice Smith, was sold at Christie’s New York, 15.12.2011, lot 1172, see also a fine champlevé enamel and gilt-bronze baluster wall vase, sold Bonhams. London, 13.5.2010, lot 401 and A very rare Imperial Champleve and Gilt-Bronze Archaistic Vase, Hu. Qianlong period, sold Reverence and Perfection: Magnificent Imperial Cloisonné Enamels from a Private European Collection, Christie’s Hongkong, 29.5.2013, Lot 17 Stand with dent to side, the canton enamel placque with restored enamel flakes