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拍品專文
This bottle is painted on either side with scenes from the play The Romance of the West Chamber, written by Wang Shifu in the Yuan dynasty. Set in the Tang dynasty, the story tells of the romance between Zhang Junrui and Cui Yingying. While on his way to take the civil service examination, Zhang was instrumental in rescuing Cui Yingying from a group of bandits. Cui's hand in marriage had been offered by her mother to whoever could save her, but she subsequently reneged on her promise. On the present bottle, Zhang is shown conveying his sorrow through his music at a secret meeting arranged by Hongniang. The reverse shows Hongniang awaiting her mistresses' response to a note she has delivered from Zhang.
This style of decoration began in the late Qianlong period at the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen and continued well into the Jiaqing period. A Jiaqinq-marked bottle in the collection of the Princeton University Art Museum of identical shape and also decorated with scenes from The Romance of the West Chamber, and probably from the same set as the present bottle, is illustrated by M. C. Hughes, The Blair Bequest, p. 171, no. 212. Similar decoration, with underglaze blue borders picked out in gold enamel and the main decoration in famille rose, can be found on two other Jiaqing-marked bottles in the J & J Collection, illustrated by Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, vol. 1, nos. 212 and 213. While showing signs of use, this bottle remains in unusually good condition, with all the fine detail in iron-red enamel and much of the gold still intact.
This style of decoration began in the late Qianlong period at the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen and continued well into the Jiaqing period. A Jiaqinq-marked bottle in the collection of the Princeton University Art Museum of identical shape and also decorated with scenes from The Romance of the West Chamber, and probably from the same set as the present bottle, is illustrated by M. C. Hughes, The Blair Bequest, p. 171, no. 212. Similar decoration, with underglaze blue borders picked out in gold enamel and the main decoration in famille rose, can be found on two other Jiaqing-marked bottles in the J & J Collection, illustrated by Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, vol. 1, nos. 212 and 213. While showing signs of use, this bottle remains in unusually good condition, with all the fine detail in iron-red enamel and much of the gold still intact.