Vintage Chinese Cloisonne Vase Pair Black Ground Peony Pheasant Polychrome 20"H

Pair of Chinese cloisonné vases, black ground with pheasant and peony in polychrome enamel, gilt brass mounts, mid-20th century

China; mid-20th century, c. 1950s; Republic period

A large and well-matched pair of Chinese cloisonné vases of baluster form, each rising from a splayed foot to a broad ovoid shoulder and flared neck. The decoration is dense and accomplished throughout. The main body carries a continuous pheasant-and-peony (野鸡牡丹) composition — one of the most enduring auspicious pairings in Chinese decorative art — rendered in crimson, lavender, white, and green enamel against a black ground overlaid with a fine fish-scale diaper pattern in silver-white wire. The pheasants move among blooming peony and chrysanthemum, their plumage detailed in blue, grey, and russet with red facial markings, the wire work capturing individual feather groupings with considerable precision. Chrysanthemum blooms in crimson and lavender fill the remaining ground. The shoulder, neck, and foot registers carry geometric ruyi-head and floral scroll banding in cobalt blue, turquoise, and white on black. Gilt brass mounts finish the rim and foot of each vase. The bases are plain turquoise enamel, unmarked.

In Chinese iconography the pheasant (雉, zhì) is associated with beauty, good fortune, and official rank, while the peony (牡丹) represents wealth, prosperity, and feminine elegance. Together they form one of the classic auspicious pairings of the Chinese decorative vocabulary, appearing across cloisonné, porcelain, lacquer, and textile from the Qing period onward. Cloisonné (景泰藍, jǐngtàilán) is among the most demanding of China's decorative metalwork traditions — each design built from individually bent wire cloisons soldered to a copper body, filled with vitreous enamel, and fired and polished multiple times to a flush, lacquer-smooth surface. The fish-scale diaper ground treatment visible here is a technically sophisticated variation requiring precise wire-bending across the entire body field. Vases of this scale and decorative ambition represent the upper range of mid-century Beijing workshop production. Sold as a pair.

• Ware: Chinese cloisonné (景泰藍) on copper/brass body
• Ground: Black with fish-scale diaper wire pattern
• Decoration: Peony and chrysanthemum with paired songbirds; geometric banding at neck and foot
• Mounts: Gilt brass at rim and base
• Period: Mid-20th century, c. 1950s
• Dimensions: 19.5" H × 10.5" W (50 × 27 cm) each; mouth opening 7" W (18 cm)
• Weight: 8lbs 14oz each
• Condition: Very good. Some oxidation noted at base of one vase. No dents. Please see photos for details.
• Sold as a pair.