1780-1880

Jadeite used by the Chinese lapidaries in the Qing period came only from a remote part of Burma, and was sporadically available only from the second quarter of the eighteenth century onwards. Despite the Qianlong Emperor's obsession with the stone (see lot 47), it was not until the last two decades of the century, after bellicose relations with Burma were settled by treaty in 1784, that regular, official supplies of the stone reached the court at Beijing. It is likely that bottles such as this extraordinary example represent the earliest popular use of jadeite in China. With the Imperially inspired snuff-craze at its height during the late-eighteenth century, there can be no question that a striking new material arriving on the scene would have been promptly carved into snuff bottles. Porcelain bottles made to imitate jadeite during the Daoguang period attest to its well-established popularity by the early-nineteenth century. See, for example, a porcelain bottle of this type in the J & J Collection, illustrated by Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle. The J & J Collection, no. 251.
As in the case of other works of art in fine jadeite, the best colored specimens were frequently left plain so that no decoration diverted attention from the natural beauty of the material. Here, the simple symmetrical form perfectly complements the sumptuous, intensely colored material.
Compare two jadeite bottles of similar rich material and similar form, one in the Princeton University Art Museum, illustrated by M. C. Hughes, The Blair Bequest, p. 52, no. 23, and the other in the collection of Mary and George Bloch, illustrated by Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 1, Jade, pp. 458-59, no. 181.