80 - A ‘FAMILLE-ROSE’ MOULDED PORCELAIN SNUFF BOTTLE IMPERIAL KILNS, JINGDEZHEN, JIAQING MARK AND OF THE PERIOD, 1796-1820

A ‘FAMILLE-ROSE’ MOULDED PORCELAIN SNUFF BOTTLE IMPERIAL KILNS, JINGDEZHEN, JIAQING MARK AND OF THE PERIOD, 1796-1820 To Be Sold Without Reserve Of compressed elongated apple form with a sharply flared neck, flat lip and recessed flat oval foot surrounded by a protruding rounded foot rim, moulded and enamelled with a continuous legendary scene, probably taken from the tales of the Three Kingdoms, in which a dragon flies from clouds above two warriors on horseback, one in a turbulent river, a tiger set on clouds above them, and with two boats negotiating the waves as they approach the bank, one boat poled by a man, the tips of two furled umbrellas behind him, the other, larger boat with a two further warriors on the prow, and another scholar seated under the central canopy, a woman in a compartment behind him, a flag flying from the stern, sails unfurled, the lip with a green band edged in red, the foot with a formalized floral design in iron-red, the lip gilt, the foot inscribed in iron-red seal script Jiaqing nian zhi (‘made in the Jiaqing period’) Height: 7.5cm Provenance: The Hartman Galleries, Palm Beach, 1975 The Neal W. and Frances R. Hunter Collection Sotheby’s, New York, 15th September 1998, lot 152 Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd, 25th September 1998, (a copy of the original invoice available) This is an extremely rare mould of the group of moulded porcelain bottles which flourished under Court patronage from the 1780s into the Jiaqing period. For a discussion on the group, and some similar examples, although not of this subject, see Hugh Moss, ‘Porcelain Snuff Bottles, Part 1., in Chinese Snuff Bottles Magazine No. 5. For another example of this subject, from the same mould and similarly marked, see JICSBS, Winter 1984, back cover Ω This Lot was imported outside of the UK, under the Temporary Admission scheme. 5% import VAT will be charged on the ‘hammer’ price and 20% VAT will be charged on the ‘buyer’s premium’. If proof of export outside of the UK can be provided for this item within 3 months of the sale date, then the VAT can be refunded. Please contact us for further details and shipping advice