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Lot Essay
This charming bottle is from the same mold as another in the J & J Collection, illustrated by Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle. The J & J Collection, no. 246, a turquoise-glazed example sold in these rooms, 29 March 2006, lot 48. Comparison between the two reveals that minor details of incised and smaller raised lines were added after the principal features were imposed by the mold. Here, the unusual use of the opaque white enamel was dictated, no doubt, by its subject of a "white vegetable" (baicai).
These cabbage-shaped bottles form part of a larger group of very thinly potted porcelain snuff bottles probably from the mid- to late-Qing dynasty, including a series of "squirrel-and-grape" designs, such as the two examples from the J & J Collection, one sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 25 April 2004, lot 875, and the other sold in these rooms, 30 March 2005, lot 34.
In Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, p. 135, T. T. Bartholomew remarks, that because of its green (qing) and white (bai) colors, "the Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa var. glabra) is a pun for qing and qingbai, both meaning 'without stain,' as in a clean personal record." Bartholomew also notes that the second character of "cabbage" (cai) is a pun for "wealth," and that the Chinese believe that eating this vegetable will help one gain prosperity.
An identical bottle, most likely from the same mold, is illustrated by J. Ford, Chinese Snuff Bottles. The Edward Choate O'Dell Collection, no. 160. See also a cabbage-form bottle of similar design carved from white jade in the collection of Denis Low and illustrated by R. Kleiner, Treasures from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, p. 68, no. 55.
These cabbage-shaped bottles form part of a larger group of very thinly potted porcelain snuff bottles probably from the mid- to late-Qing dynasty, including a series of "squirrel-and-grape" designs, such as the two examples from the J & J Collection, one sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 25 April 2004, lot 875, and the other sold in these rooms, 30 March 2005, lot 34.
In Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, p. 135, T. T. Bartholomew remarks, that because of its green (qing) and white (bai) colors, "the Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa var. glabra) is a pun for qing and qingbai, both meaning 'without stain,' as in a clean personal record." Bartholomew also notes that the second character of "cabbage" (cai) is a pun for "wealth," and that the Chinese believe that eating this vegetable will help one gain prosperity.
An identical bottle, most likely from the same mold, is illustrated by J. Ford, Chinese Snuff Bottles. The Edward Choate O'Dell Collection, no. 160. See also a cabbage-form bottle of similar design carved from white jade in the collection of Denis Low and illustrated by R. Kleiner, Treasures from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, p. 68, no. 55.