A pair of coral ground vases on the theme of blissful love – £39,000 at Gorringe’s.
Gold decoration on a coral-red ground was revived during the Kangxi period and reached its height in the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods. However, many pieces of this type are thought to be made in the Republic era.
This particular pair of vases offered on on September 6, probably early 20th century, would make a perfect wedding gift.
They are decorated in famille rose enamels with four ‘dragon and phoenix’ roundels (symbolic of the emperor and the empress and blissful relations between husband and wife) and butterflies and prunus blossom (a quest for blissful love).
In gold across the whole surface are shuang xi (double happiness) characters while to the base is a red-four-character mark that reads ‘celebrate together eternal youthfulness’.
