TWO CLOISONNE ENAMEL BALUSTER VASESJingtai marks, possible Late Ming dynasty elements
The exteriors covered in lotus and vines upon a turquoise ground beneath repeating geometric bands surrounding the mouth and a band of horses upon waves below stiff leaf patterns encircling the shoulder, the gilt bases bearing the incised four-character marks.
16in (40.6cm) high (2).注脚Provenance:
Booker's Shop, Berkeley, California, 1952

In Chinese, cloisonne is commonly referred to as Jingtai lan, referring to a turbulent and short reign in the 15th century supposedly renowned for pieces of this type. However, Chen Lihua points out in Gugong Shoucang: Ni Yinggai Zhidao de 200 Jian, Falang Qi (The Forbidden City Publishing House, Beijing: 2008), for the vast majority of cloisonnes in the imperial collection, these marks were both added to pieces reconstructed from elements of cloisonnes made even earlier than the Jingtai reign, or added to cloisonnes made after the period. He notes that even during the Qianlong reign, according to extant documents, apparently even high quality cloisonnes were marked as being from the Jingtai period at imperial request (p12).