TWO CARVED CAMEO AGATE SNUFF BOTTLES

1770-1850

Details

TWO CARVED CAMEO AGATE SNUFF BOTTLES
1770-1850
The first bottle, Official School, 1770-1840, is of honey tone and is cleverly carved utilizing the darker markings on one side with lotus flowers and a four-character inscription reading lian wei junzi ('lotus stands for the gentleman'). The second bottle, probably Imperial, 1820-1850, is well carved utilizing the darker markings with a Pekingese dog and a dove on one side and a pair of magpies nesting on prunus branches on the reverse.
2½ and 1 7/8 in. (6.4 and 4.8 cm.) high, two glass stoppers, one bone spoon (2)

Provenance

Larger bottle:
Montclair Art Musuem, New Jersey.
Sotheby's Arcade, 31 October 1995, lot 210.
Smaller bottle: Charles David, New Jersey, 1984.

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Lot Essay

Doves and dogs were favorite themes of the Daoguang Emperor for imperial snuff bottles. He was fond of raising doves, while his favorite consort raised Pekingese dogs, suggesting a likely date for the second bottle, and a likely imperial origin.

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