A pair of Canton enamel Hu-Form vases and covers, with Qianlong marks and period 

Chinese Circa 1750.

Each of flattened quatrefoil section, with a pear shaped body rising from a splayed foot and swelling to a broad neck, flanked by archaistic phoenix form handles. Finely painted in bright famille rose enamels on a turquoise ground with a dense floral meander, centred on a large lotus blossom issuing further leafy blooms. The shoulder is set with a foliate band between spearhead borders in blue and yellow. Further floral meanders encircle the neck and foot, framed by ribbon twist borders at the rim and base. The conforming cover is similarly decorated and surmounted by a bud form knop. The interior is enamelled turquoise. The base is white enamelled and bears a six character mark in underglaze blue within a double square. 

Similar Examples

Compare further Qianlong mark and period painted enamel vessels referencing archaic bronze forms, such as a hu-form vase decorated with floral roundels against white ground, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s exhibition Enamel Ware in The Ming and Ch’ing Dynasties, Taipei, 1999, cat. no 145; and a pair of gu-form vases, decorated with foliage and leaves against a turquoise ground, sold at Christie’s Paris, 8th June 2010, lot 218.