Exotic gifts of painted enamels were first recorded in China from the 1680s, given by western missionaries to the Kangxi Emperor, who admired these treasures, produced in places such as Limoges, Nuremberg, Genéva and Berlin. His particular fascination with Western enamelled wares and his patronage in establishing the production of such wares in the Imperial Palace Workshop brought about a new decorative art that came to represent a harmonious blend of western technique and Chinese workmanship.

The Enamel Workshop, in charge of producing cloisonné, champlevé, and painted enamel wares on metal, glass and porcelain, took its orders from the Zaobanchu (Imperial Palace Workshop) that was established as an official institution with numerous workshops, each specialising in a certain type of product. The workshops were under the instruction of the Neiwufu (Imperial Household Department) that managed the everyday affairs of the court and the palace, while the Zaobanchu oversaw the production of utensils and wares for use in the Imperial Household. Matteo Ripa, a Neapolitan priest invited by Kangxi to work in the Zaobanchu, wrote the following in March 1716:

'His Majesty having become fascinated by our European enamel and by the new method of enamel painting, tried by every possible means to introduce the latter into his imperial workshops which he had set up for this purpose within the palace, with the result that with the colours used there to paint porcelain and with several large pieces of enamel which he had brought from Europe, it became possible to do something’.

Another Jesuit priest, Father de Maille, writing from Rehe to the Chinese Mission in Paris in 1720, mentions that a Brother Gravereau was sent to China at the request of the Kangxi Emperor to help with the manufacturing of enamels. It further notes that by that t.mes (1720) the Chinese had been producing enamelled wares for five or six years. According to these letters, enamelling on metal was possibly first introduced to the Enamel Workshop around 1714-1716, by which t.mes enamelling on porcelain already had been established.

Initially, foreign missionaries taught the technique of enamelling on metal to Chinese artisans mainly recruited from Guangzhou where there was a concentration of especially talented artists in this field. From a court.mes morial endorsed by the Kangxi Emperor and dated to the 55th year of his reign (1716) it is known that the Viceroy of Guangdong and Guangxi already sent two artisans to Beijing at that t.mes to serve in the Enamel Workshop. The technique of enamelling on metal had been introduced to the artists in Guangzhou by Jesuit missionaries around 1684. They had been most immediately exposed to wares from Europe and had mastered the technical skills of enamel painting on metal earlier than artists in Beijing. Kangxi's grandson, the Qianlong Emperor, was also known to recruit enamel artists from Guangzhou. Yang Boda, in his work on tributes from Guangdong to the court, mentions that enamel factories in Guangzhou "had to supply versatile artisans and foreign or local enamel colours for the Imperial Workshop in Beijing. Thus both the development and improvement of the standard of the imperial enamel workshop was entirely dependent on Guangdong enamel factories.”

By the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, the craft of enamelling on metal had reached perfection with forms and designs often reflecting the emperor's extravagant and lavish taste. Exceptionally high standards were reached, and this art-form continued receiving the emperor's foremost interest and patronage. This magnificent and delicately enamelled ewer is an exquisite example of the perfect combination of an elegant shape, lavish colouration and technical perfection. The vessel is a close copy of an earlier, Kangxi period, prototype, an example of which is in the National Palace Museum, illustrated in Enamel Ware in the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties, Taipei, 1999, pl. 93 (fig. 1). This ewer is recorded in a court order filed under Qianqinggong from the 28th day of the 11th month of the 6th year of the Qianlong period (4th January 1742), Eunuch Gao Yu, as proposed by Treasurer Bai Shixiu, presented a small copper-bodied enamelled ‘fan’ ewer (Kangxi mark), a copper-bodied sacrificial red enamelled alms bowl, a cloisonné enamel ‘prunus’ box (Kangxi mark), a copper-bodied enamelled ‘mellow’ flower basket, a small copper-bodied enamelled ‘melon’ ewer (Kangxi mark). His Majesty ordered these vessels to be stored within tailor-made fitted boxes, together with other Kangxi enamelled wares at Qianqinggong (China First Archive and the Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, eds, Qinggong Neiwufu Zaobanchu dang’an zonghui [General collects ion of archival records from the Qing imperial household department workshop], Beijing, 2005, vol. 9, pp. 708-709).

The Qianlong Emperor was clearly enamoured by this ewer, as in addition to the current example, at least three other identical examples are extant, two preserved in the principal repositories of the Qing imperial collects ion: one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Enamel Ware in the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties, op.cit., pl. 111 (fig. 2), another in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in The Complete collects ion of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 197; and a third example sold in these rooms, 8th April 2010, lot 1804.

Ewers for the court were made in various forms and decoration, for example see one painted with a delineated lotus design in blue enamel against a white ground, included in The Complete collects ion of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, op.cit., pl. 198, together with a teapot with a flower medallion motif, pl. 199. Further two Qianlong teapots are published in Zhongguo jinyin boli falangqi quanji [Complete book of gold and silver wares, glasswares and cloisonné enamels volume], vol. 6, Beijing, 2002, pls 132 and 137, both in the collects ion of the Palace Museum.

1680年間，首見記載西洋傳教士朝貢珍奇工藝品，造於現今法國利摩日、德國紐倫堡、瑞士日內瓦，及德國柏林等地。此類稀珍，深得康熙皇帝喜愛，尤以畫琺瑯工藝品為最，進而創設宮廷御用作坊研製，融合西洋技法與中國工藝，清宮琺瑯工藝遂之誕生。

清宮內廷琺瑯作，負責研製掐絲琺瑯、鏨胎琺瑯、及金屬胎、料胎、瓷胎畫琺瑯工藝，隸屬造辦處，為眾多作坊之一。造辦處從屬內務府，打理朝廷一切日常事務，前者則負責督造宮廷日用器物。義大利那不勒斯傳教士，馬國賢，供職於此，1716年3月記述如下：

「康熙皇帝對我們歐洲的琺瑯工藝和新奇的畫琺瑯技法十分著迷，他嘗試所有可能的辦法將畫琺瑯技法融入造辦處的工藝品創新之中，並將繪製瓷器的釉料與歐洲大件琺瑯器加以比較，看來我們在這方面可以有所作為。」

另一位耶穌會神父 Father de Maille 曾於1720年由熱河寄往巴黎的書信中，提及一位倪天爵耶穌會士，應康熙皇帝之邀，來華協助燒製琺瑯，此時中國開始生產畫琺瑯器已有五、六年。由此類推，金屬畫琺瑯工藝應於1714至1716年間引進清宮琺瑯作，而當時瓷胎畫琺瑯工藝亦已出現。

最初得到西洋傳教士傳授金屬胎畫琺瑯技藝的匠人多出身廣州，此乃琺瑯工藝鼎盛之地，相關工藝技術1684年已知傳入。康熙五十五年，一份奏摺記載兩廣總督派遣兩位工藝精湛之琺瑯匠人入京至內廷琺瑯作供職，乾隆一朝亦從廣州招募大量琺瑯工匠。楊伯達，《清代廣東貢品》，香港，1987年，提及廣州琺瑯工廠需向北京宮廷御用作坊提供大量傑出工匠畫師，及國產與進口琺瑯顏料，因此當時宮廷琺瑯作之發展可謂完全依賴廣州之琺瑯工藝。

乾隆時期，金屬胎畫琺瑯工藝達到巔峰，器形、紋飾多反映帝王偏好之華貴富麗風格，本品融合典雅形制、繁複設色、高超工藝，乃當朝精湛之作。執壺以康熙雛本為原型，參考故宮博物院藏品，刊於《明清琺瑯器展覽圖錄》，台北，1999年，圖版93（圖一）。乾清宮檔案記載，乾隆六年十一月二十八日，太監高玉來交一件銅胎琺瑯扇形壺（康熙年款）、一件銅胎琺瑯祭紅缽、一件掐絲琺瑯梅紋盒（康熙年款）、一件銅胎琺瑯葵花式籃、一件小型銅胎琺瑯瓜式壺（康熙年款），乾隆帝下旨做個別盒匣珍貯，與其他康熙朝琺瑯器同置於乾清宮（《清宮內務府造辦處檔案總匯》，北京，2005年，卷9，頁708-709）。

本品之外，現知至少其他三件近例，可見帝王傾愛此品，其二出自清宮舊藏，一現藏於台北故宮博物院，刊於《明清琺瑯器展覽圖錄》，前述出處，圖版111（圖二），另一例存於北京故宮博物院，載於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集：金屬琺瑯器》，香港，2002年，圖版197；最後一例售於香港蘇富比，2010年4月8日，編號1804。

清宮御製執壺，器形、紋飾多樣，如一件白地藍彩作例，錄於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集：金屬琺瑯器》，前述出處，圖版198，同錄一件團花紋，圖版199。參考另外二器，出版於《中國金銀玻璃琺瑯器全集》，卷6，北京，2002年，圖版132、137，均藏於北京故宮博物院。