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Lot Essay
Guyue xuan is the name of one of the halls within the Changchun Yuan (a series of Imperial gardens to the West of Beijing adjoining the Yuanming Yuan, known collectively as the Summer Palace). The Changchun Yuan was intended as a retirement home for the Qianlong Emperor, although he never took up full-time residence there. When the Guyue xuan was completed in 1767, the Emperor ordered a group of wares for that particular pavilion which appears to have been mostly in enamel on glass. See P. Y. K. Lam, "Studio marks in Imperial and Court Related Snuff Bottles," in The Imperial Connection. Court Related Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Humphrey K. F. Hui Collection, pp. 33-34.
The decoration on this sumptuous bottle is closely related to another bottle in the J & J Collection, illustrated by Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle. The J & J Collection, no 198, and subsequently sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 25 April 2004, lot 823. Although that bottle was of yellow glass and bore an incised Qianlong four-character mark rather than the Guyue xuan mark on the present lot, the subject is similar and the style of enameling essentially identical. In both cases, areas of the enamel did not take to the glass ground, leaving tiny gaps where one can see through the enamel to the glass below. The result, however, is particularly fortuitous on the present bottle, especially on the rose blooms, endowing them with the appearance of insect-eaten petals, and on the ornamental rockwork, with its wonderful variety of colors, where it adds an intriguing textural dimension.
With both aforementioned bottles, there are two possibilities regarding the enameling: either the glass ground was originally intended to be enameled, or the glass bottle, which in both cases was probably produced in the Palace workshops, was originally intended to stand alone, but was later enameled by the Guyue xuan group of painters. Among the few surviving Guyue xuan wares on a colored ground, this is the only one on a sapphire-blue ground. Other known examples include one on a turquoise-blue ground (from the Dane Collection, in B. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, no. 960) and a small group on yellow grounds (see J. Ford, Chinese Snuff Bottles. The Edward Choate O'Dell Collection, no. 102; The Imperial Connection. Court Related Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Humphrey K. F. Hui Collection, no. 48; and Zhao Ruzheng, Jian Bian Bi Yan Hu, p. 56, no. 54 apart from the J & J example cited above).
According to T. Bartholomew in Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, p. 231, no. 8.2.2, bamboo (zhu) and roses (yueji) suggest the expression, "May you have peace year-round" (Siji ping'an). The rose stands for "year-round" because it blooms almost every month, hence its name "monthly rose" (yueji). The plum blossom's five petals suggest the Five Blessings: longevity, wealth, love of virtue, and a natural death.
Further underlying meaning can be found in the combination of bamboo and prunus, both of which are known for their perseverance in harsh weather, and thus symbolize fortitude in adversity and, in particular, the idealized scholar-official.
The decoration on this sumptuous bottle is closely related to another bottle in the J & J Collection, illustrated by Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle. The J & J Collection, no 198, and subsequently sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 25 April 2004, lot 823. Although that bottle was of yellow glass and bore an incised Qianlong four-character mark rather than the Guyue xuan mark on the present lot, the subject is similar and the style of enameling essentially identical. In both cases, areas of the enamel did not take to the glass ground, leaving tiny gaps where one can see through the enamel to the glass below. The result, however, is particularly fortuitous on the present bottle, especially on the rose blooms, endowing them with the appearance of insect-eaten petals, and on the ornamental rockwork, with its wonderful variety of colors, where it adds an intriguing textural dimension.
With both aforementioned bottles, there are two possibilities regarding the enameling: either the glass ground was originally intended to be enameled, or the glass bottle, which in both cases was probably produced in the Palace workshops, was originally intended to stand alone, but was later enameled by the Guyue xuan group of painters. Among the few surviving Guyue xuan wares on a colored ground, this is the only one on a sapphire-blue ground. Other known examples include one on a turquoise-blue ground (from the Dane Collection, in B. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, no. 960) and a small group on yellow grounds (see J. Ford, Chinese Snuff Bottles. The Edward Choate O'Dell Collection, no. 102; The Imperial Connection. Court Related Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Humphrey K. F. Hui Collection, no. 48; and Zhao Ruzheng, Jian Bian Bi Yan Hu, p. 56, no. 54 apart from the J & J example cited above).
According to T. Bartholomew in Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, p. 231, no. 8.2.2, bamboo (zhu) and roses (yueji) suggest the expression, "May you have peace year-round" (Siji ping'an). The rose stands for "year-round" because it blooms almost every month, hence its name "monthly rose" (yueji). The plum blossom's five petals suggest the Five Blessings: longevity, wealth, love of virtue, and a natural death.
Further underlying meaning can be found in the combination of bamboo and prunus, both of which are known for their perseverance in harsh weather, and thus symbolize fortitude in adversity and, in particular, the idealized scholar-official.