Bowl with Willow and Swallow in Painted Enamels (瓷胎畫琺瑯柳燕紋碗)

Qing Dynasty (1368–1644), Yongzheng Reign (1723–1735)

Height: 7.7 cm, diameter of mouth: 15.8 cm, diameter of bottom: 6.5 cm

National Palace Museum, Taipei

      A pair of swallows is perched on branches singing to each other in this animated and endearing scene fully reflecting a similar one of birds among peach blossoms in Giuseppe Castiglione’s “Immortal Blossoms in an Eternal Spring”. As such, it portrays in con-crete terms the relationship between court painting and the decoration of painted enamelware at the time.