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Lot Essay
The double-gourd shape is a popular one because of its tactile qualities when held in the palm of the hand, and for its auspicious symbolism. The gourd represents abundance and is also associated with Daoism.
Several features of this superbly finished bottle, such as the elegantly subtle, small concave foot, excellent hollowing and strong form, allow for an attribution to the Palace workshops. Numerous double-gourd-shaped nephrite bottles, some bearing Qianlong four-character marks, are still in the Imperial Collection, Taipei and are illustrated in Snuff Bottles in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1991, nos. 119-23. The proportions of the present bottle are quite similar to no. 119, a white nephrite bottle carved with a brocade sash at the waist. In A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, vol. 1, Jade, Hong Kong, 1995, pp. 188-189, the authors discuss the practice of staining nephrite for decorative appeal and note several color-enhanced nephrite pieces in the Imperial Collection, Beijing.
Several features of this superbly finished bottle, such as the elegantly subtle, small concave foot, excellent hollowing and strong form, allow for an attribution to the Palace workshops. Numerous double-gourd-shaped nephrite bottles, some bearing Qianlong four-character marks, are still in the Imperial Collection, Taipei and are illustrated in Snuff Bottles in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1991, nos. 119-23. The proportions of the present bottle are quite similar to no. 119, a white nephrite bottle carved with a brocade sash at the waist. In A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, vol. 1, Jade, Hong Kong, 1995, pp. 188-189, the authors discuss the practice of staining nephrite for decorative appeal and note several color-enhanced nephrite pieces in the Imperial Collection, Beijing.