The present vase, with its exquisite enameling and majestic design of bats in flight amidst scrolling clouds was undoubtedly made for Imperial use and is representative of imperial cloisonné enamels of the finest quality commissioned for the court of the Qianlong Emperor.

After the sixth year of the Yongzheng reign (1728), the palace enamel workshops succeeded in experimenting with locally manufactured enamels and instigated the production of a whole new palette of enamel colors, which allowed the court enamelers to deploy a wide array of colors to create complex designs on vessels. Of particular significance is the production of two new enamel colors, pink and white, which allowed decorations of enameled wares to be executed with more sophisticated color gradations, lending them a 'painterly' quality.

The rare and masterfully executed design of 'bats and clouds' seen on the present vase takes its inspiration from contemporary porcelain wares. Here, the use of the predominantly red enameled bats on a ground of shaded dark and light blue clouds is reminiscent of copper- and iron-red bats and washes of cobalt blue clouds found on porcelain wares, such as on an unmarked Qianlong period tianqiuping in the Qing Court collects ion, illustrated in The Complete collects ion of Treasures in the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), Hong Kong, 2000, pl. 212.

The elegant form, particularly unusual given the inclusion of the stepped gilt-rim at the shoulder, similarly finds its origins in Qing dynasty porcelains. The form is seen on a yellow-ground Jiaqing mark and period 'bats and lotus' vase in the Huaihaitang collects ion, included in the exhibition Ethereal Elegance. Porcelain Vases of the Imperial Qing. The Huaihaitang collects ion, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2007, cat. no. 135.

Masterful transfers of a porcelain form and design into cloisonné enamel are extremely rare and only a relatively small number of vessels of this category are known. An earlier Yongzheng period cloisonné enamel 'dragon' tianqiuping is illustrated in Sotheby’s: Thirty Years in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2003, pl. 283; and in Giuseppe Eskenazi in collaboration with Hajni Elias, A Dealer’s Hand. The Chinese Art World Through the Eyes of Giuseppe Eskenazi, London, 2012, pl. 158; and sold three t.mes s in our Hong Kong rooms, 2nd May 1995, lot 118; 7th May 2002, lot 580; and 31st October 2004, lot 25.

The design of the present vase is replete with auspicious meaning with the scrolling clouds adorning the vase homophonous with yun, 'fortune', and together with bats relay the auspicious message of 'may you have good fortune and blessing'. A small number of other cloisonné enamel vases decorated with a 'bats and cloud' design are known, all lacking the sensitive application of enamels and shading effect seen on the present lot. Compare, for example, a double gourd-form vase decorated with bats and shou characters amidst clouds, attributed to the first half of the 18th century, illustrated in Helmut Brinker and Albert Lutz, Chinese Cloisonné: The Pierre Uldry collects ion, New York, 1989, pl. 246; a 17th century bottle vase of similar design in the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, illustrated in Nora von Achenach, Chinesische Kunst im Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Hamburg, 2012, pl. 120; and a slightly later baluster vase, attributed to the Jiaqing period, from the collects ion of Juan Jose Amezaga and Maria Dolores Feijoo, sold at Christie's Paris, 7th December 2007, lot. 46.

Variations of the design are also found on imperial cloisonné wares of other forms, such an elaborate zitan-framed throne screen in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in the exhibition Secret World of the Forbidden City. Splendors from China's Imperial Palace, The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, Santa Ana, p. 34; the reverse of a two-sided cloisonné enamel panel from the collects ion of David David-Weill and now in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, included in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Art, London, 1935, cat. no. 2038 and in the exhibition Cloisonné: Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, Bard Graduate Center, New York, 2011, cat. no. 126; a pair of large cloisonné enamel censers and covers, formerly in the collects ion of the Rt. Hon. The Lord Margadale of Islay, sold at Christie's London, 31st May 1965, lot 134, and again in their Hong Kong rooms, 30th May 2005, lot 1279; and on two cloisonné enamel peach-form basins, the first sold in our London rooms, 7th November 2007, lot 439 and the second at Christie's Hong Kong, 28th May 2014, lot 3022.

本瓶琺瑯精美，紋飾華貴非凡，作瑞蝠翔飛雲間，無疑乃為宮廷御用而製，展現乾隆年間皇家掐絲琺瑯器至臻品質。

繼雍正六年之後，宮廷琺瑯作成功研製出本土琺瑯料，製作多種色彩，宮廷藝匠以之繪製各種繁複紋飾，其中粉紅及白彩可混合以營造各種色彩層次，所成紋飾更富畫意。

本瓶所飾雲蝠紋，造工精細，取靈感自同期瓷器，甚為鮮見。瑞蝠紋以紅彩為主色，以深淺藍彩雲紋為地，與瓷器例可見之銅紅或礬紅瑞蝠、鈷藍雲紋有異曲同工之妙。可比較一無款之乾隆天球瓶例，清宮舊藏，圖載於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集．青花釉裡紅》，香港，2000年，圖版212。

瓶器造型優雅，頸部下方一圈鎏金尤其獨特，亦乃源自清代瓷器。比較一懷海堂雅藏黃地瓶例，嘉慶年器並款，飾瑞蝠蓮紋，曾展於《機暇清賞──懷海堂藏清代御窰瓷瓶》，香港中文大學文物館，香港，2007年，編號135。

取材自瓷器紋飾器型之銅胎掐絲琺瑯器，臻品鮮見，僅數例可供參考。比較一雍正銅胎掐絲琺瑯龍紋天球瓶例，載於《香港蘇富比三十週年》，香港，2003年，圖版283；該例亦載於朱塞佩•埃斯卡納齊及薛好佩，《中國藝術品經眼錄：埃斯卡納齊的回憶》，倫敦，2012年，圖版158，並三度易手於香港蘇富比1995年5月2日，編號118、2002年5月7日，編號580，以及2004年10月31日，編號25。

本瓶紋飾寓意吉祥，雲與運兩字諧音，蝠則諧音福字，故雲蝠紋飾有運、福之寓意。銅胎掐絲琺瑯雲蝠紋瓶可比較數例，然而其琺瑯皆不及本品細緻，陰影效果也未若本品自然。比較一葫蘆瓶例，飾雲蝠壽字紋，斷代十八世紀上半葉，圖載於 Helmut Brinker 及 Albert Lutz，《Chinese Cloisonné: The Pierre Uldry collects ion》，紐約，1989年，圖版246；另比一瓶例，斷代十七世紀，紋飾相近，現藏於漢堡工藝美術館，漢堡，圖載於 Nora von Achenach，《Chinesische Kunst im Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg》，漢堡，2012年，圖版120；再比一嘉慶例，尺寸稍大， 出自 Juan Jose Amezaga 及 Maria Dolored Feijoo 收藏，售於巴黎佳士得2007年12月7日，編號46。

紋飾相近之宮廷掐絲琺瑯器，亦見於其他器型，北京故宮博物院收藏一紫檀嵌琺瑯屏風例，曾展於《Secret World of the Forbidden City. Splendors from China's Imperial Palace》，鮑爾斯文化藝術博物館，聖安娜，2000年，頁34；另比一雙面掐絲琺瑯屏例，出自大維•威爾收藏，現藏於裝飾藝術博物館，巴黎，曾展於《中國藝術國際展覽會》，皇家美術學院，倫敦，1935年，編號2038及展於《Cloisonné: Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties》，巴德研究生中心，紐約，2011年，編號126；另比一對掐絲琺瑯連蓋香爐例，艾雷島馬格代爾爵士舊藏，售於倫敦佳士得1965年5月31日，編號134，後易手於香港佳士得2005年5月30日，編號1279； 再比兩例，掐絲琺瑯桃式洗，其一售於倫敦蘇富比2007年11月7日，編號439，其二售於香港佳士得2014年5月28日，編號3022。