East Meets West
Extraordinary Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Royal Collection
Pair of vases
early twentieth centuryRCIN 605
These very large Chinese vases were a gift from the last Emperor of China, the five year-old Puyi, to mark the coronation of King George V (1865–1936) and Queen Mary (1867–1953) in 1911. They are decorated with dragons and have bronze dragon handles at the neck. The beautiful coloured surface has been achieved by the technique of cloisonné enamelling, in which powdered glass of different colours is placed within an intricate framework of metal wires and heated until it fuses in the pattern of the design.