Enamel Tea Caddy with Flower-and-Bird Reserve Panels

This enamel painted tea caddy with flower-and-bird reserve panels is brilliantly colored, gorgeous yet refined.

It is jointly created by a group of renowned masters, including Xu Zhijun — Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritor of Qing Dynasty Official Kiln Famille Rose (Jingdezhen hand-painted porcelain craftsmanship), and Zhang Jian — Master of Overglaze Color and Gold-piling Craftsmanship.

Decorated with multiple techniques including enamel painting, iron red coloring and gold piling, it requires four separate kiln firings to finish. Patterns include lantern motifs, precious lotus flowers and more. In traditional Chinese art, every pattern bears a meaning, and every meaning carries auspiciousness. The motifs are exquisitely detailed, with gentle and elegant hues that reach perfect beauty.

A pair of meticulously painted peacocks are rendered with fine and smooth brushwork. Their feathers are brilliantly colorful, with slender filaments like golden-green velvet, glowing with luster and striking vibrancy. Set off by bamboo and plum blossoms, the auspicious birds appear by the window panels.

The exterior is painted with enamel interlocking branch patterns, with clear leaf veins, gracefully curled branches and leaves full of dynamism. As its structure stretches continuously without interruption, it carries the meaning of endless vitality.

Beyond its intricate and delicate painting, this four-reserve-panel enamel painted flower-and-bird tea caddy requires four kiln firings, with risks in each firing.

In the Qing Dynasty, enamel porcelain was originally exclusive for the appreciation of emperors and empresses. Enamel pigment is a special artificially calcined coloring material. Before the 6th year of the Yongzheng reign (1728), it relied on imports from Europe. After 1728, the Imperial Workshop of the Qing Court was able to independently refine more than 20 kinds of enamel pigments, marking that ancient Chinese polychrome porcelain craftsmanship had reached its peak.