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Hi there
I recently purchased these at a garage sale. The lady said they were Japanese urns, but I think they are Chinese vases. After googling I see these are cloisonné. Probably mass produced though the dragon pattern from one to the other is not an exact copy but has lots of slight differences, so this suggests to me to be hand done. I know nothing about these sort of things but would appreciate if someone could help me with the 'story' of the vases (age, origin, mass production). Also there are 9 dragons on each with a main one featured. I was wondering if this one dragon has a name I could look up to see what it might be about. The vases stand about 60 cm high.
Many thanks for your time.
Claudia

Cloisonne wirework and enameling are all done by hand, even for matching patterns. It is a very time-consuming art that usually requires a workshop of several people to accomplish. Designs can be copied - often to make a pair, as in your vases - but because of the handwork required, even carefully made copies if examined closely are different from one another.

Insofar as one can see from small monochromatic photos, your vases appear to be neatly crafted in an attractive design, likely done some time between the 1990s and now. The frontal dragon pose has been popular in Chinese art ever since the Ming dynasty, in porcelain, silk embroidery, cloisonne...

60cm is a good-sized vase - more expensive than the usual smaller 20cm ones.

Hi All
Thank you for replying. I do appreciate your expertise and am glad to know a bit more. The pictures are in full colour. The vases are black and white with varying shades of purple. It's partly what drew me to them in the first place. That, and their size and their pattern. I guess I'm the perfect market for such things! :) Many thanks for your time.
Kind regards
Claudia

The gray/purple color scheme is attractive and uncommon, I think, and fits in with more decor environments than a multicolor piece. Many monochrome pieces in greens, blues, purples, and reds were made, but your gray/lavender pair is unusual. The monochrome color scheme of blended enamels seems to have been an invention, perhaps at the direction of Qian Meihua, of the Beijing Enamel Factory in the 1960s-70s, and was popular into the 1990s.

I'd have bought them in a minute - cloisonne doesn't have to be Ming or Qing antique to be enjoyable, and your pieces appear to be well made.

Beadiste is the expert on cloisonne, but they look pretty modern to me.

Bokaba

Cloisonne. Chinese, Under 30 years old. Not much value. Around 4150-200 for the pair.

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