Vase with decoration of dragons among clouds (one of a pair)
Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Yongzheng mark and period (1723–35)
The technique of incising a very delicate pattern into the surface of a porcelain vessel before covering it with a thick glaze, which obscures the underlying decoration, became popular in the early fifteenth century and was used thereafter. The long, elegant necks and bulbous bodies of these miniature vases most likely derive from an Islamic glass prototype introduced to China centuries earlier.
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