IMPERIAL, PROBABLY PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER MARK IN SEAL SCRIPT AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Details

**A VERY RARE AND IMPORTANT RUSSET AND YELLOWISH-GREEN JADE SNUFF BOTTLE
IMPERIAL, PROBABLY PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER MARK IN SEAL SCRIPT AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)
Of compressed form with concave lip and recessed convex foot surrounded by a footrim, carved with continuous formalized archaistic scrolls framing the central motif of an elaborately beribboned double gourd, the foot incised Qianlong yuzhi ('Made by Imperial command of the Qianlong Emperor') in seal script, glass stopper with silver collar
2 in. (6.79 cm.) high

Provenance

Hugh Moss

Literature

Snuff Bottles of the Ch'ing Dynasty, pp. 60 and 134, no. 41
V. Jutheau, Guide du Collectionneur de Tabatières Chinoises, p. 112, no. 5
Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle. The J & J Collection, Vol. 1, no. 32
The Art of Chinese Snuff Bottle, Poly Art Museum, p. 23, fig. b

Exhibited

Hugh M. Moss Ltd., London, September 1974
Hong Kong Museum of Art, October-December 1978
Dallas Convention, October 1985
Christie's New York, 1993
Empress Place Museum, Singapore, 1994
Museum für Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt, 1996-1997
Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1997
Naples Museum of Art, Florida, 2002
Portland Museum of Art, Oregon, 2002
National Museum of History, Taipei, 2002
International Asian Art Fair, Seventh Regiment Armory, New York, 2003
Poly Art Museum, Beijing, 2003

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

Nephrite snuff bottles bearing a Yuzhi designation, indicating a personal order from the Emperor, are extremely rare. At the Palace Workshops, lapidaries would have incised marks on a variety of materials, including jade and chalcedony, and the mark on this bottle is very similar in form and style of execution to marks found on glass wares attributed to the Palace glassworks.

The style of carving also confirms an Imperial attribution. Archaistic designs, drawn from antiquity, were embraced wholeheartedly by the early Qing emperors as part of a broader, political attempt to legitimize their rule, and the Qianlong Emperor's output of archaistic designs on Imperial arts was particularly prolific. The Court had access to the finest collection of early bronzes in China at the time, and this proved to be a valuable resource for Palace designers responding to the Emperor's taste. Many known Imperial jade carvings have elements of design taken from ancient bronzes, and many works of art produced at the Palace Workshops during this period reflect this taste for archaism, although some of the original design elements in Qianlong period archaism were often embellished with rococo ornamentation.

See the footnote to lot 50 for a discussion on this particulary type of material, which is popularly known as han jade.

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