PROBABLY IMPERIAL, POSSIBLY PALACE WORKSHOPS, 1740-1800

Fruit and vegetable-form snuff bottles were a staple at Court, produced particularly in jade, during the Qing dynasty. The present example is beautifully carved, with the vines and leaves gently enveloping the fruit, and perfectly conceived to fit comfortably in the hand.

The gourd symbolizes fertility, because of the many fruit that grow from a single vine, while the butterfly, seen on one of the narrow sides, is a symbol of longevity, based upon a pun on its pronunciation, which sounds the same as the character for the ages of seventy or eighty.