PROBABLY IMPERIAL, PROBABLY PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1740-1780

Details

**AN UNUSUAL RED OVERLAY "SNOWSTORM" GROUND SNUFF BOTTLE
PROBABLY IMPERIAL, PROBABLY PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1740-1780
Of flattened form with a wide mouth, flat lip and foot and partial footrim made up of elements of the design, finely carved through the transparent red overlay with a continuous design of two carp, one on each main side, and aquatic plants above a lotus leaf wrapped around the base, the stem of the lotus leaf forming the partial footrim, pearlized glass stopper with turquoise-glass collar
2½ in. (6.4 cm.) high

Provenance

Edmund Dwyer.
Robert Hall, London.
Robert Hall-Jutheau Auction, International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society Auction,
Boston, October 1991.

Literature

Robert Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles IV, London, 1991, no. 116.

Exhibited

Robert Hall, London, "Chinese Snuff Bottles IV", 1991, no. 116.

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Lot Essay

The lotus (he) leaf wrapped around (bao) a big (da) carp (liyu) is a rebus for hebao dali (May your purse be filled with good profits). Alternatively, the same subject of a lotus (also known as lian) leaf wrapped around a fish (yu) may remind one of the saying liannian youyu (May you have plenty year after year). A popular mid-Qing motif, this design is seen on a variety of glass overlay bottles. See a similar red overlay example in H. Moss, Snuff Bottles of China, no. 207; and two comparable snuff bottles in H. White, Snuff Bottles from China. The Victoria and Albert Museum Collection, p. 184, fig. 3 and p. 190, fig. 1.

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