IMPERIAL, GUANGZHOU WORKSHOPS, QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER MARK IN BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Details

A PAINTED ENAMEL SNUFF BOTTLE
IMPERIAL, GUANGZHOU WORKSHOPS, QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER MARK IN BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)
The bottle is decorated with a continuous landscape. On one side two ladies gather flowers in a basket and gaze suspiciously at a barking dog nearby, and on the other side a lady approaches a boy kneeling to attend to the flowers he has gathered in a basket.
2 1⁄16 in. (5.1 cm.) high, coral and pearl stopper

Provenance

Bob C. Stevens Collection.
The Bob C. Stevens Collection of Fine and Important Chinese Snuff Bottles, Part II; Sotheby’s New York, 26 March 1982, lot 84.
Rachelle R. Holden Collection, New York.

Literature

JICSBS, March 1980, p. 14, fig. 5.

Exhibited

Tokyo, Mikimoto Hall, An Exhibition of Chinese Snuff Bottles From The Bob C. Stevens Collection, 22-31 October 1978, cat. no. 360.

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.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

This bottle is one of a group of Imperial wares produced in Guangzhou during the Qianlong period. The Guangzhou enamelers regularly employed techniques of the Palace workshops, such as the use of stippled areas where a series of minute dots provides gradation in the colors, or a ground color, as seen here in the green trees. These stylistic similarities arose for two main reasons: Guangzhou enamelers were occasionally seconded to the Palace workshops for a number of years, and Jesuit enamelers often spent lengthy periods in Guangzhou awaiting permission to proceed north after their arrival, spending time demonstrating their skills to local craftsmen and imparting some elements of their style to Guangzhou workshops. The current snuff bottle reflects the fascination of the Qianlong Emperor with Western subjects, which appear on both porcelain and metal enameled wares produced during his reign.

For another 'European subject' bottle decorated with figures in an outdoor setting, see Snuff Bottles from the Tuyet Nguyet and Stephen Markbreiter Collection Part I, Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 4 June 2021, lot 1012.

For other Guangzhou enamel bottles decorated with a variety of subjects, and a discussion of the origin of the art form in Guangzhou, see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, the Mary and George Bloch Collection, Volume 6, Part 1, Hong Kong, 2008, pp. 276-309, nos. 1124-1137.

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