A CLOISONNE ENAMEL ‘LOTUS’ VASE (HU) MING DYNASTY, 17TH CENTURY

of archaistic form, cast with a pear-shaped body of generous proportion rising from a splayed foot to a waisted neck and flared rim, the shoulder flanked by a pair of Buddhist lion-mask handles suspending loose rings, the exterior brightly enameled against a turquoise ground with four main registers enclosing large lotus blooms wreathed in scrolling foliage issuing curling leaves, the four registers divided by three bands of floral scrolls against a darker blue ground