31 - A ‘FAMILLE-ROSE’ PORCELAIN MOULDED ‘EIGHTEEN LUOHAN’ SNUFF BOTTLE

A ‘FAMILLE-ROSE’ PORCELAIN MOULDED ‘EIGHTEEN LUOHAN’ SNUFF BOTTLE IMPERIAL, JINDEZHEN KILNS, QIANLONG MARK AND OF THE PERIOD, 1795-1799 To Be Sold Without Reserve Of compressed ovoid form with a widely-flared cylindrical neck, moulded in high relief with a continuous design of The Eighteen Luohan, all standing on clouds against a turquoise wave ground, the foot inscribed in iron-red seal script Qianlong nian zhi (Made during the Qianlong reign), within a square cartouche 乾隆年製 Height: 6.6cm Provenance: Quinn’s, Virginia, 2007 Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd, 22nd October 2007, (a copy of the original invoice available) For discussion on the subject of moulded porcelain snuff bottles see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles. The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 6. Arts of the Fire. The genre reached a peak in the mid-Qing period, from the late-Qianlong reign into the Jiaqing before losing its popularity by the Daoguang reign in favour of carved porcelain wares. During its brief florescence as a vital, evolving art from, certain subjects became popularly established as Imperial favourites, among them scenes such as this of Eighteen Luohan. The writing of the mark here suggests that it was made during the abdication years, when the abdicated Emperor’s reign title was still used on Imperial orders alongside that of his successor Ω This Lot was imported from outside of the UK, under the Temporary Admission regime 5% import VAT will be charged on the ‘hammer” and 20% VAT will be charged on the ‘buyer’s premium