Dragon and Phoenix designs. Used for calligraphy. 3 7/16 inches in diameter by 1 9/16 inches high.The art of painting enamel on metal is to be distinguished from that of cloisonné, in which enamel is poured into metal cloisons or compartments stuck to the surface of the object, and that of champlevé, in which it is poured into grooves engraved on the surface, although it is related to the enamel decoration of porcelain.Painted enamels made for the emperor’s use were manufactured in the palace workshop, set up in Beijing during the reign of the Kangxi emperor. Larger items may have been bought from outside, perhaps from the major enamel-producing area of Suzhou and Yangzhou in south-east China. In the early 18th century, Guangzhou (Canton) also became a center of painted enamels. Three distinct types of painted enamel made in Guangzhou in the Qianlong reign period have been identified: copies of European painted enamels, items such as snuff bottles produced according to court designs, and typical Guangzhou products such as bowls, probably designed to hold goldfish and often decorated with fish and boxes with fit-in trays.Chinese painted enamels were transported to the West as early as 1716 by Jesuit priests and in 1721 by the Russian ambassador. By the mid-18th century documents such as bills of lading exist for items made to Western taste and in Western shapes. A documented example of this type of export ware is a pair of candelabra in the collection of Rosenborg Slot, Copenhagen. It was ordered in 1740, together with other items of furniture, by the supercargo Lintrup of the Danish Asiatic Company. Many copies of Yongzheng and Qianlong reign period wares, not always of high quality, were made in Guangzhou during the second half of the 19th century, particularly in the Guangxu reign period (1875–1908). The name ‘Canton enamels’ came to be used in the West for these export pieces.