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Lot Essay
The auspicious symbolism of bats and shou (longevity) characters is typical of a range of Court designs, and snuff bottles and other works of art decorated with such motifs would frequently be distributed by the Emperor as gifts. The bat (fu) and shou medallion, together with the form of the bottle (ping) provides the rebus fushou ping'an ("May you be blessed with good fortune, long life and peace").
The inclusion of five bats on each main side of the bottle is also significant - five bats represent the Five Blessings (a long life, riches, health, love of virtue, and a natural death). They also form the rebus wufu qingshou ("five bats extend good wishes on one's birthday").
The sapphire-blue overlay, combined with the mask handles with circular rings, and the carving style in general, all suggest that this bottle would have been made at the Palace workshops. An example of this design in dark brown overlay on a clear ground, formerly from the Marian Mayer Collection (no. 260), is illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, Robert Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles III, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 130, no. 110, while one with black overlay on a white ground is illustrated by M. Hughes, The Blair Bequest. Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Princeton University Art Museum, Baltimore, 2002, p. 145, no. 179.
The inclusion of five bats on each main side of the bottle is also significant - five bats represent the Five Blessings (a long life, riches, health, love of virtue, and a natural death). They also form the rebus wufu qingshou ("five bats extend good wishes on one's birthday").
The sapphire-blue overlay, combined with the mask handles with circular rings, and the carving style in general, all suggest that this bottle would have been made at the Palace workshops. An example of this design in dark brown overlay on a clear ground, formerly from the Marian Mayer Collection (no. 260), is illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, Robert Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles III, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 130, no. 110, while one with black overlay on a white ground is illustrated by M. Hughes, The Blair Bequest. Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Princeton University Art Museum, Baltimore, 2002, p. 145, no. 179.