Vases eyed by first lady snapped up at temple fair
Cloisonne vases appreciated by China's first lady in November have been a big hit at a Beijing temple fair.
Beijing Enamel Factory Co sold out 50 cloisonne Fanhuasijin vases on Friday, the first day of the Spring Festival temple fair at its headquarters.
Anyone wanting to buy the vases now has to place an order, said Miao Yongsheng, the company's deputy general manager.
Patterns of flowers and leaves are spread across such vases and called Fanhuasijin, which in Chinese means colorful flowers blooming.
Cloisonne is an ancient technique for decorating objects — in recent centuries using vitreous enamel, and in older periods also inlays of cut gemstones, glass and other materials.
In November, Peng Liyuan, the wife of President Xi Jinping, hosted a tour to the Summer Palace for spouses of leaders and representatives from member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
During the tour, the guests learned about cloisonne techniques and were invited to place colors on a semi-completed Fanhuasijin vase made by the company.
Miao said the company plans to make and sell 500 such vases, and to date has sold or taken orders for more than 100.
He said it is the first time the company has sold a limitededition product, while the first lady's Summer Palace tour had also helped to promote the sales.
The vases cost 15,800 yuan ($2,526) each.
“The techniques used for making cloisonneware are very complicated and the items take a long time to complete,” said Miao, adding that the company developed two new colors for the vases.
Xi chose a cloisonne vase to present to other leaders attending the APEC Leaders' Week in Beijing in November. The vase is called Sihaishengping, which in Chinese means peace in the world.
Miao said cloisonne articles were made for royal families during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
But the techniques used to make cloisonneware were on the verge of being lost due to wars at the time of the Republic of China, before the government of the New China, established in 1949, announced measures to safeguard them.