IMPERIAL, JINGDE ZHEN KILNS, 1770-1800

Details

**A VERY RARE AND UNUSUAL GUYUE XUAN ENAMELED RELIEF PORCELAIN SNUFF BOTTLE
IMPERIAL, JINGDE ZHEN KILNS, 1770-1800
Of flattened form with flat lip and recessed flat foot surrounded by a footrim, the body carved and molded in high relief with a continuous design of two flying butterflies, flowering prunus branches and bamboo, the details of the main design picked out in yellow, turquoise-blue, green and black on a purplish-blue ground, beneath a shoulder-band of pendant leaves and between two framing bands of red formalized floral scroll on a yellow ground, the mouth gilt, the foot covered with green enamel and inscribed Guyue Xuan (Ancient Moon Pavilion) in blue enamel, gilt-metal stopper
2 5/32 in. (5.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Albert M. Pyke Collection.
Francis and Kay Reif Collection.
Christie's, New York, 18 October 1993, lot 44.

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Lot Essay

This is the only known Jingde zhen porcelain response to a group of late-eighteenth century Beijing Palace workshops enameled relief-glass bottle with Guyue Xuan marks. Other than this unique bottle, there exists a small series of Jingde Zhen porcelain bottles inspired by Palace enameled glass examples which also bear Guyue Xuan marks. One is illustrated by R. Kleiner in Chinese Snuff Bottles. A Miniature Art from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, p. 207, no. 149, which is a copy of an enameled glass bottle formerly in the Blanche B. Exstein collection, sold in these rooms, 21 March 2002, lot 53; and another, formerly in the Rachelle Holden Collection, is published in the exhibition catalogue Chinese Snuff Bottles, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1977, no. 120.

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