1740-1820

Details

**A LAPIS LAZULI SNUFF BOTTLE
1740-1820
Of rounded-rectangular form with a cylindrical neck and recessed oval foot, the stone of deep bluish-purple tone with metallic pyrite inclusions, glass stopper
2 3/8 in. (6 cm.) high

Provenance

Park View Antique Shop, 1963
The Neal W. and Frances R. Hunter Collection
Sotheby's New York, 15 September 1998, lot 253
Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd.

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

This bottle is of unusually intense purple color and among snuff bottles is among the most gem-like colors known in this material. It appears to belong to a large group of plain rounded-rectangular forms which appear to have been made for the Court during the mid-Qing period. Although common in white nephrite, jadeite and crystal, both colorless and brown, occasionally they are found in other materials as well, such as coral and, as in the present bottle, lapis lazuli. See Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, no. 88, for a comparable bottle made from coral.

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