A pair of Chinese 'Mille fleur' porcelain vases with covers, 20th century.
Decorated with the mille fleur pattern. Height with cover 27 cm. With Guangxus mark to the base and Jiangxi Chupin.
Wear, insignificant chip to inside of cover.
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The 'mille fleurs' pattern, also known as 'wan hua dui', ('ten thousand flowers piled up',) or bai hua tu, ('hundred flowers design'). a motif that it is extremely well known for its joyful evocation of nature's abundance. It was developed on porcelain in the imperial factories under the Yongzheng emperor and of the kiln supervisor Tang Ying. With its multitude of enamel colors, complex and densely interwoven layout, naturalistic representation of blooms and leaves and an astonishing attention to detail, this design must have been one of the most challenging for the imperial porcelain painters to master. The Chinese name for this type of dense design jiacai ('mixed or mingled colors') appropriately describes the multitude of famille-rose shades used.