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Lot Essay
Fruit and vegetable-form snuff bottles were a staple at court, produced particularly in jade. The present example is carved with the vines and leaves gently enveloping the fruit, and perfectly conceived to fit comfortably in the hand.
The gourd symbolizes fertility, because of the many fruit that grow from a single vine, while the butterfly, seen on one of the narrow sides, is a symbol of longevity, based upon a pun on its pronunciation, which sounds the same as the character for the ages of seventy or eighty.
Another example of a melon-form jade bottle of the same design, was sold at Christie's New York, The Ruth and Carl Barron Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles: Part I, 16 September 2015, lot 242.
The gourd symbolizes fertility, because of the many fruit that grow from a single vine, while the butterfly, seen on one of the narrow sides, is a symbol of longevity, based upon a pun on its pronunciation, which sounds the same as the character for the ages of seventy or eighty.
Another example of a melon-form jade bottle of the same design, was sold at Christie's New York, The Ruth and Carl Barron Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles: Part I, 16 September 2015, lot 242.