Pair of Vases

This spectacular vase, one of a pair in the collection, depicts flowering and fruiting peach trees to convey an auspicious message of affluence and long life. Developments in enamel technology led to new possibilities in polychrome decoration of Qing imperial porcelains. Pinks appeared, lending their name to the new palette of overglaze colors (famille rose), and the addition of opaque white allowed painters to vary the value of pigments, enhancing the painterly quality of porcelain decoration.