IMPERIAL, THE PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1767-1799

Details

AN ENAMELLED WHITE GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE
IMPERIAL, THE PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1767-1799
The exterior is finely painted on either side with a cricket, and the flat foot is inscribed in iron-red Guyue Xuan, 'Ancient Moon Pavilion'.
2 1/4 in. (5.6 cm.) high, stopper

Provenance

The Ko Collection, purchased in Shanghai, 1933; sold at Christie's London, 10 June 1974, lot 58
Hugh M. Moss Ltd.
Irving Lindzon, purchased Toronto, 1987
The J & J Collection; sold at Christie's New York, 30 March 2005, lot 6

Literature

JICSBS, Autumn, 1988, front cover
JICSBS, Winter 1988, p. 37
Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle. The J & J Collection, New York/Tokyo, 1993, vol. I, no. 201

Exhibited

Christie's New York, 1993
Empress Place Museum, Singapore, 1994
Museum fur Kunsthandwerk, Snuff Bottles from China. The J & J Collection, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 1996-1997
The Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle: The J & J Collection, London, 1997
Naples Museum of Art, Florida, 2002
Portland Museum of Art, Oregon, 2002
National Museum of History, The Miniature World: An exhibition of snuff bottles from the J & J Collection, Taipei, 2002
Poly Art Museum, The Art of Chinese Snuff Bottle: Selected Snuff Bottle Collection of James Li, Beijing, 2003, p. 79

Brought to you by

Ruben Lien

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Lot Essay

The cricket, either alone or with its cage, became a very popular subject on snuff bottles during the early nineteenth century. An emblem of courage, the cricket in Chinese is pronounced guoguo which sounds the same as the word 'country'. The rebus is interpreted as jinzhong baoguo, meaning 'to be loyal to one's country'. Large quantities of Imperially made bottles were presented to officials around the country, as a sign of Imperial recognition they were a signal honor. Such a pun would have been a subtle and effective way of reminding officials of an essential feature of Confucian government. Another reason for the popularity of the cricket imagery is linked to the production of cricket cages and the popular pastime of cricket fights.

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