Lot Essay
See Robert W. L. Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, p. 2, where the author states that only eight bottles with yuzhi marks are recorded, including two in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan
This appears to be the only recorded metal bottle known with an incised Kangxi yuzhi mark
The only other metal bottle (copper) recorded with a Kangxi mark bears a nianzhi mark, see Gerard Tsang and Hugh Moss, Snuff Bottles of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1978, Catalogue, col. pl. 8, pp. 49 and 132. This example from the National History Museum, New York, is inlaid in silver and gold with a seated Guanyin on one side and pine on the other
It is well recorded that the Kangxi Emperor enjoyed taking snuff. For further discussion see Tsang and Moss, Ibid., pp. 27-40
This bottle bears comparison with the well-known earlier group of Shunzhi dated metal bottles. The controversy over these bottles is well documented. Both Hugh Moss and Robert Kleiner argue convincingly for a 1650's dating, while Emily B. Curtis argues for a later dating
For a dated Shunzhi bottle of rounded rectangular form, rather than the more typical moonflask type, see Hugh Moss, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of the Rt. Hon. The Marquess of Exeter, K.C.M.G., M2, and another from the Arthur Gadsby Collection, Sotheby Parke Bernet (Hongkong) Ltd., November 1, 1978, lot 82
This appears to be the only recorded metal bottle known with an incised Kangxi yuzhi mark
The only other metal bottle (copper) recorded with a Kangxi mark bears a nianzhi mark, see Gerard Tsang and Hugh Moss, Snuff Bottles of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1978, Catalogue, col. pl. 8, pp. 49 and 132. This example from the National History Museum, New York, is inlaid in silver and gold with a seated Guanyin on one side and pine on the other
It is well recorded that the Kangxi Emperor enjoyed taking snuff. For further discussion see Tsang and Moss, Ibid., pp. 27-40
This bottle bears comparison with the well-known earlier group of Shunzhi dated metal bottles. The controversy over these bottles is well documented. Both Hugh Moss and Robert Kleiner argue convincingly for a 1650's dating, while Emily B. Curtis argues for a later dating
For a dated Shunzhi bottle of rounded rectangular form, rather than the more typical moonflask type, see Hugh Moss, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of the Rt. Hon. The Marquess of Exeter, K.C.M.G., M2, and another from the Arthur Gadsby Collection, Sotheby Parke Bernet (Hongkong) Ltd., November 1, 1978, lot 82