KANGXI MOLDED FOUR-CHARACTER MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1662-1722)

Gourd vessels such as the present example were formed by placing a wooden mold around the young gourd and allowing the natural growth within these confines to form the shape and decoration. None of the decoration or the mark is cut by a knife, all is a mirror of the carved decoration within the mold. The earliest known use of such a technique appears to date to the Warring States period (480-221 BC). A gourd mouthpiece for a musical instrument was found in a Chu tomb in Changsha, Hunan province. Though 16th century texts attest to the gourd-molding technique, the earliest extant examples appear to date to the reign of Kangxi.

For further discussions on gourd vessels see W. Weng and Y. Boda, The Palace Museum: Peking, Treasures of the Forbidden City, p. 287, and H. Moss, Arts from the Scholar's Studio, nos. 91 and 92. Hugh M. Moss, ibid, p. 124, states, "The Kangxi and Qianlong periods mark the height of decorated gourds for the good reason that both Emperors were keen collectors. The Kangxi Emperor's enthusiasm is vouched for by his development of this humble art form in the palace, and is further endorsed by the demonstration of the Qianlong Emperor's interest, when he wrote a foreword to a poem entitled 'In Praise of a Gourd Vessel', as follows: "The manufacture of gourd vessels started in the Kangxi era when the Emperor ordered that gourds be grown into molds to produce bowls, jars, dishes, and boxes as required. The vessels are admirably natural and yet exquisite, something not possible by man alone."

The emperor Qianlong even presented a molded gourd snuff bottle to King George III, illustrated in The National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese Art, p. 33, no. 74. The Daoist symbolism seen on the present bottle of cranes, deer and shou characters, is enhanced by the gourd, itself a Daoist object.

For three gourd snuff bottles see Masterpieces of Chinese Miniature Crafts in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, 1971, pl. 42. For later gourd snuff bottles with Daoguang marks, see Chinese Snuff Bottles, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1977, Catalogue, col. pl. 266; and R. Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, 1987, pl. 201. See, also, an article by Wang Shixiang entitled 'Snuff Bottles made from Gourds', JICSBS, Winter 1997, pp. 4-13, for a discussion on gourd bottle production.