AN EXQUISITE BEIJING ENAMEL 'RUBY LANDSCAPE' SNUFF BOTTLE AND A SNUFF DISH

Details

AN EXQUISITE BEIJING ENAMEL 'RUBY LANDSCAPE' SNUFF BOTTLE AND A SNUFF DISH
IMPERIAL, ATTRIBUTED TO THE PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, QIANLONG BLUE ENAMEL FOUR-CHARACTER MARKS AND OF THE PERIOD (1760-1795)

The compressed spherical bottle is superbly painted with a continuous ruby-enamel Chinese landscape scene with two figures chatting in a boat in a lakeside setting with mature trees and a building tucked amidst rockwork, over which a V-shaped flight of birds is depicted in the distance, all between bands of green foliate scrolls, blue dots and ruyi at the neck and a further narrow band of dots around the foot, stopper; the circular dish enamelled with a river winding through another ruby landscape scattered with dwellings and trees along the banks and a floral scroll on the exterior
The snuff bottle 2 1/16 in. (5.2 cm.) high
The snuff dish 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm.) diam. (2)

Provenance

The bottle:
Drouot (Champetier de Ribes), Paris, 9 October 1978, lot 238.
Eugene Sung

The dish:
Y. F. Yang & Co, Hong Kong, 1978

Literature

JICSBS, September 1980, front cover
100 Selected Chinese Snuff Bottles from the J & J Collection, front cover and no. 81
JICSBS, Autumn 1989, front cover
Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, vol. 1, no. 178 (the bottle) and no. 468 (the dish)
The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, London, p. 15
The Art of Chinese Snuff Bottle, Poly Art Museum, Beijing, p. 66

Exhibited

Christie's London, October 1987
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, 2003

Lot Essay

Ruby on white enamelled panels were among a variety of enamelled pieces imported from Europe to intrigue the Court and instruct the Palace enamellers. This led to the common use of small vignettes in this palette. The vignettes were usually used as minor panels but were occasionally used as principal decoration on enamelling of metal, glass or porcelain. However, in all three media, they are far rarer than polychrome wares.

This distinctive bottle is related to other bottles of a closely similar style. A bottle of identical design in mirror image of the present one is in Beijing, illustrated in Snuff Bottle, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2003, no. 174. Bottles with ruby enamel landscapes painted within panels include one sold in these Rooms, The Imperial Sale, 29 April 2002, lot 526; while two examples painted on white glass is illustrated by Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, nos. 23 and 24.

Compare the present snuff dish with a comparable example from the Palace Museum, Beijing, painted in blue enamel with a landscape and illustrated in Snuff Bottles. The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2003, pl. 178,

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