A RARE MOLDED AND ENAMELED PORCELAIN BOTTLE

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN

Details

A RARE MOLDED AND ENAMELED PORCELAIN BOTTLE
IRON-RED THREE-CHARACTER HALLMARK, YANG HE TANG, 1770-1830

Of rounded shape, molded on one side with two quail on a grassy knoll amidst rockwork, bamboo and chrysanthemum continuing around the reverse, the sky painted turquoise-blue, the other details picked out in fine colors, stopper

Provenance

Janos Szekeres Collection
Sotheby's, New York, Important Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Janos Szekeres, Part I, October 27, 1986, lot 18

Literature

International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society Journal, June, 1975, cover

Lot Essay

The mark, Yang He Tang, refers to 'The hall where harmony is nurtured', a Qianlong imperial mark

This type of molded porcelain bottle was presumably following the molded glass bottles of Gu Yue Xuan type. For an example see Hugh Moss, Victor Graham, Ka Bo Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, p. 348, no. 202

The depiction of quail and chrysanthemum on this bottle can form the rebus, An Ju Le Ye (To live and work in peace and contentment). The quail is also a symbol of being safe and sound

For a painted porcelain bottle depicting two quail see Hugh M. Moss, Snuff Bottles of China, p. 97, no. 297