BLUE-ENAMEL QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-95)

Details

AN ENAMELLED SNUFF BOTTLE
Blue-enamel Qianlong four-character mark and of the period (1736-95)
Of flattened spherical shape, finely enamelled with quails flying and feeding among rockwork beside water below a star-shaped collar between ruyi below the rim and around the base, the gilt-bronze stopper cast with classic scroll around petals, minute area of retouching to rockwork
1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm.) high

Exhibited

Oriental Ceramic Society, 1964, Cat. no. 351 (lent by Mrs. Alfred Clark)

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Quails are a very popular choice of motif on fine enamel wares because of their auspicious connotations. On one hand quails are regarded as representing bravery, since they can be quite pugnacious, despite their small size. They also provide a rebus, or visual pun, since the word for quail in Chinese, an, is a homophone for the word for peace. On this bottle there are nine quails, and the word for nine, jiu, is pronounced the same as a word meaning 'for a long time', thus the nine quails on this snuff bottle provides a wish for long-lasing peace

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