Pair of porcelain palace vases with lids, Yung-Cheng period – China, Qing dynasty, 18th century

Height: 33,7 cm (incl. lid)
Diameter: 19 cm

Underglaze cobalt, transparent glaze. Jingdezhen blue-and-white porcelain.
The two almost identical mei ping vases, each of classical form and with short, slightly funnel-shaped necks, are preserved, along with two slip lids with a central inner cone and a pointed oval knob at the top.

The vases bear finely graduated blue-and-white decorations on the outside, each depicting a (five-clawed) dragon (symbolizing the emperor) and a phoenix (symbolizing the empress) moving to the left in a precise manner between leafy tendrils and mallow blossoms of varying sizes. These main motifs are framed between leaf wreaths of upright (lotus) petals at the vase feet and—from the vase shoulders upwards—a sequence of wreath friezes of ruji (cloud ornaments), meander tendrils, and a leafy tendril with four mallow blossoms. Short, upright banana leaves encircle the vase neck.

The outer decorations of the lids repeat the mallow motif with corresponding mallow tendrils on their steep sides and stylized mallow petals around the lid finial, which can be imagined as the flower's inflorescence.