A FINE AND RARE LARGE TURQUOISE-GROUND 'BAJIXIANG' IMITATION-CLOISONNE VASE AND COVER, China, gilt Qianlong seal mark to base and of the period, boldly enamelled in vibrant colours against a turquoise ground with the bajixiang ('Eight Buddhist Emblems') beribboned and arranged around the body, interspersed with scattered sprigs of lotus and hibiscus, with details all picked-out in gilt and the interior and the underside glazed turquoise, the base inscribed in gilt with a six-character reign mark - Property from an European private collection, by repute bought according to the present owner with an English country sale - The Qianlong Emperor was particularly fond of cloisonné work which he revived on a grand scale after it having been out of favour under the Yongzheng Emperor. He had it imitated not only in enamel-painted porcelain, like seen on the present vase, but even in enamel-painted copper, where the wires separating the cloisons of different enamels on cloisonné prototypes were reproduced by finely painted golden lines. While in its colour scheme the present vase imitates cloisonné metalwork, stylistically it stands in the plain tradition of yangcai porcelain with its dense overall floral designs on a coloured ground. Cf. a vase from the Summer Palace removed by Lord Loch of Drylaw (1827-1900) and sold from the J-T. Tai Collection, Sotheby's Hongkong, 7.10.2010, Lot 2132 - Cover with replaced knob and small restored section to rim, body with very minor wear.