Lot Essay
This bottle is one of a group of Imperial wares produced at Guangzhou during the Qianlong period. Guangzhou enamels regularly employ techniques of the Palace workshops, particularly the use of stippled areas where a series of minute dots provides graduation in the colors, as here. These stylistic similarities arose for two main reasons: Guangzhou enamelers were occasionally seconded to the Palace workshops for a number of years, and Jesuit enamelers often spent lengthy periods in Guangzhou awaiting permission to proceed north after their arrival, spending time demonstrating their skills to local craftsmen and imparting some elements of their style to Guangzhou workshops.
For other enameled copper snuff bottles with European subjects, see D. Low, More Treasures from The Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, p. 8, no. 5; and Robert Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles III, p. 135, no. 80; and another illustrated by R. Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, p. 12, no. 11.
For other enameled copper snuff bottles with European subjects, see D. Low, More Treasures from The Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, p. 8, no. 5; and Robert Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles III, p. 135, no. 80; and another illustrated by R. Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, p. 12, no. 11.