A RARE GUANGZHOU ENAMEL SNUFF BOTTLE
A RARE GUANGZHOU ENAMEL SNUFF BOTTLE

PROBABLY IMPERIAL, GUANGZHOU WORKSHOPS, 1723-1735

Details
A RARE GUANGZHOU ENAMEL SNUFF BOTTLE
PROBABLY IMPERIAL, GUANGZHOU WORKSHOPS, 1723-1735
The bottle is finely painted with a continuous formalised design of bats enclosed within a simulated loosely tied cloth decorated with a diaper ground and floral segments. The neck is decorated with pendent ruyi and a formalized floral band, and the foot is enamelled with twin peaches in a black cartouche.
1 3/4 in. (4.42 cm.) high, stopper
Provenance
Hugh Moss Collection
The J & J Collection; sold at Christie's New York, 30 March 2005, lot 10
Literature
JICSBS, September 1980, front cover
Viviane Jutheau, Guide du Collectionneur de Tabatieres Chinoises, Paris, 1980, p. 55
Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle. The J & J Collection, New York/Tokyo, 1993, vol. I, no. 180.
Exhibited
Hugh M. Moss Ltd., London, September 1974
Christie's New York, 1993
Empress Place Museum, Singapore, 1994
Museum für 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. 58

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Ruben Lien
Ruben Lien

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Lot Essay

The design of the tied brocade sash is associated with the Court and suggests precious objects, wrapped as if for presentation. It also symbolizes longevity through a pun on the Chinese characters for 'tied sash' and 'longevity'. Bats are also symbols of happiness and a large number of bats implies a wish for boundless happiness. The pair of peaches on the base reinforces the auspiciousness of the subject in wishing the owner long life in which to enjoy boundless happiness.

A bottle of this exact design but with a Yongzheng mark on the base is illustrated in Snuff Bottles in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, p. 87, no. 22; while another Guangzhou enamelled bottle with a Yongzheng mark inscribed within a pair of peaches is illustrated in Snuff Bottles of the Ch'ing Dynasty, p. 48, no. 6. A Yongzheng-marked, double-gourd enameled copper bottle decorated around the waist with a similar cloth with bats and swastika-diaper pattern is in the Denis Low Collection and is illustrated by R. Kleiner, Treasures from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, Singapore, 1999, p. 8, no. 6. All three snuff bottles were made for the court, and with the symbolism of the bats, brocade sash and peaches on the present bottle, together with its similarity to an Imperial example, it is very possible that this was a birthday gift for the Yongzheng emperor.

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