Vase with Floral Designs

This vase has a flaring mouth, a thin neck, a flat stomach and a bottom with white glaze on the interior but no exterior glaze. The body is painted with enamel patterns in blue, white, and yellow against a mauve ground. The golden arabesques at the neck are displayed in a three-dimensional manner like architectural ornament. The stomach is decorated with large interlocking-branch lotuses. The Kangxi reign mark in a square is engraved on the bottom.
The vase is one of the earliest pieces of porcelain with painted enamel. High failure rates probably explain the rarity of such early examples since strict imperial quality controls rejected even the slightest imperfections. The simple and elegant design gives the appearance of enamel painted on copper rather than porcelain.