QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER MARK IN IRON-RED AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Details

A GREEN-GROUND FAMILLE ROSE 'CAT AND BUTTERFLY' INSCRIBED SNUFF BOTTLE
QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER MARK IN IRON-RED AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)
One side of the bottle is delicately painted with a panel depicting a cat amidst three large floral blooms, looking up towards a butterfly in flight. The panel to the reverse is decorated with a long poetic inscription, followed by a seal mark reading long. Both panels are reserved on a light green ground moulded with gilt floral sprays. The gilt-bronze stopper is decorated with a foliate design.
2 ¼ in. (5.6 cm.) high, stopper

Provenance

The collection of Jane Cunningham, New York, December 2007.
The collection of an important private Asian collector.

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

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Lot Essay

The long inscription may be read as pie rui fan you lou/shou zhai shi leng leng/ji ci gong yin shang/he lao can luo ying. This poem describes and eulogises the beauty of flowers and dew drops. It is followed by the characters Qianlong yu ti, 'imperial composition by the Qianlong Emperor'.

Compare the present lot to a moulded snuff bottle in the Palace Museum in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures from the Palace Museum - 47 - Snuff Bottles, Hong Kong, 2003, p. 210, pl. 320.

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