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Lot Essay
The katydid, either alone or with its cage, became a very popular subject on snuff bottles during the early 19th century. An emblem of courage, the katydid in Chinese is pronounced guoguo which sounds the same as the word 'country'. The rebus is interpreted as jinzhong baoguo, meaning 'to be loyal to one's country'. Large quantities of imperially made bottles were presented to officials around the country as a sign of imperial recognition. Such a pun would have been a subtle and effective way of reminding officials of an essential feature of Confucian government. Another reason for the popularity of the katydid imagery is linked to the production of cricket and katydid cages and the popular pastime of katydid fights.
While the mark on this bottle appears to be unrecorded, it clearly was made in the same kilns as the Imperial Daoguang-marked examples. Snuff bottles with this theme can be found with a variety of design combinations. A Daoguang-marked bottle, painted with the katydid on the cage on one side, and a single katydid on the reverse, is illustrated by Moss, Graham, Tsang, in A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 6, Part 3, Arts of the Fire, Hong Kong, 2008, pp. 690-1, no. 1318. Another Daoguang-marked bottle with a single katydid on each side was sold in these rooms, 13-14 September 2012, lot 1161. The combination of a katydid with a basket of flowers on the opposite side, appears to the most unusual of designs.
The katydid theme can also be found on imperial glass bottles. See, for example, a Gueyue Xuan-marked exmample the J & J Collection sold in these rooms, 30 March 2005, lot 6, and published in Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, Vol. I, New York, 1993, no. 201.
While the mark on this bottle appears to be unrecorded, it clearly was made in the same kilns as the Imperial Daoguang-marked examples. Snuff bottles with this theme can be found with a variety of design combinations. A Daoguang-marked bottle, painted with the katydid on the cage on one side, and a single katydid on the reverse, is illustrated by Moss, Graham, Tsang, in A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 6, Part 3, Arts of the Fire, Hong Kong, 2008, pp. 690-1, no. 1318. Another Daoguang-marked bottle with a single katydid on each side was sold in these rooms, 13-14 September 2012, lot 1161. The combination of a katydid with a basket of flowers on the opposite side, appears to the most unusual of designs.
The katydid theme can also be found on imperial glass bottles. See, for example, a Gueyue Xuan-marked exmample the J & J Collection sold in these rooms, 30 March 2005, lot 6, and published in Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, Vol. I, New York, 1993, no. 201.