A Pair of 19th Century Qing Dynasty Famille Verte Vases & Covers

A pair of 19th century porcelain baluster vases and covers, each with cartouches of birds and flowers set upon a powder blue ground.

Since the 10th century, birds and flowers have been central to Chinese painting; so much so, that they have been awarded their own genre, fittingly named “bird-and-flower-painting” – though insects and fish have historically been deemed acceptable accessories to such depictions. Although birds tend to represent ‘winged spirits’, it is often the pairing of a particular type of bird with a particular type of botanical specimen that creates the intended iconography.

Qing Dynasty, Tongzhi Period (1862 – 1874)

One rim crack and hairline restored to neck.