A VERY RARE CLOISONNE ENAMEL SNUFF BOTTLE

Details

A VERY RARE CLOISONNE ENAMEL SNUFF BOTTLE
PROBABLY IMPERIAL, ATTRIBUTED TO THE IMPERIAL WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1715-1760

Of compressed baluster form, with a concave foot, enamelled within raised wire inlays with a lotus scroll on each side between lappet panels around the foot and ruyi at the shoulder, the neck with pendant leaf lappets and clouds, stopper
2 1/2 in. (6.33 cm.) high

Provenance

Harry Ross
Christie's London, 19 June 1978, lot 143
Hugh Moss

Literature

Snuff Bottles of the Ch'ing Dynasty, pp. 52 and 132, no. 18
Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, vol. 2, no. 265
JICSBS, Autumn 1998, p. 12, fig. 32
The Miniature World - An Exhibition of Snuff Bottles from the J & J Collection, Taipei, p. 55

Exhibited

Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1978
Christie's New York, 1993
Empress Place Museum, Singapore, 1994
Museum fur Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt, 1996-1997
Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1997
Naples Museum of Art, Naples, Florida, 2001 - 2002
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Oregon, 2002
National Museum of History, Taipei, 2002
International Asian Art Fair, Seventh Regiment Armory, New York, 2003
Poly Art Museum, Beijing, October 2003

Lot Essay

This bottle represents cloisonne enamel at its finest, with a simple, formalized design beautifully disposed on an elegant form, the simple colouring giving strength to the abstraction and the substantial wires well gilded against a perfectly even surface. It is also a bonus that it has retained its original stopper, which, as can be expected, is the perfect complement to the flare of the neck and the gently curving shoulders of the flattened meiping form.

More from IMPORTANT CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES FROM THE J&J COLLECTION

View All