PROBABLY IMPERIAL, 1720-1800

Details

**A FINE AND RARE GREENISH-YELLOW JADE DOUBLE-GOURD SNUFF BOTTLE
PROBABLY IMPERIAL, 1720-1800
Well-hollowed and carved with a sash with a wan pattern tied around the waist in a bow, the stone of even greenish-yellow tone, stopper
2 1/8 in. (5.3 cm.) high

Provenance

Fritz A. Brockelmann Collection, formed in Canton (Guangzhou) between 1883 and 1899.

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Lot Essay

The double gourd was a popular form for snuff bottles because of its tactile qualities when held in the palm of the hand, and for its auspicious symbolism. The gourd represents abundance and is also associated with Daoism.

Several features of this superbly finished bottle, such as the excellent hollowing and strong form, allow for an attribution to the Palace workshops. Numerous double-gourd-shaped jade bottles, some bearing Qianlong four-character marks, are still in the Imperial Collection, Taipei, and are illustrated in Snuff Bottles in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1991, nos. 119-23. The proportions of the present bottle are quite similar to nos. 119 and 120, both white jade bottles carved with a brocade sash at the waist.

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