103 - A RARE YIXING BROWN STONEWARE SNUFF BOTTLE 1800-1880

A RARE YIXING BROWN STONEWARE SNUFF BOTTLE 1800-1880 To Be Sold Without Reserve Of tapering cylindrical form, the rounded shoulders set with a cylindrical neck with wide mouth and flat lip, and with a slightly recessed, circular foot, with a central, convex, circular panel surrounded by concentric rings and a slightly protruding, flattened, circular foot rim Height: 7.4cm Provenance: Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd., 1998 The Robert and Molly Hsieh Collection Sotheby’s New York, Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 23rd March 2004, lot 89 Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd, 30th August 2005, (a copy of the original invoice available) This is a unique shape for a Yixing bottle, with its cylindrical form tapering towards the foot and rounded at the shoulders. The standard nineteenth-century cylindrical form was not tapered, and usually enamelled with bright colours. It is also obvious from the finely worked texturing of the surface that it was made not with a mould but by hand, with the final surface being carefully pared with a knife moving vertically and very evenly down the body of the bottle, giving it considerable presence and intriguing surface texture. Yixing is also known as zisha (‘purple clay’) admirably illustrated by the colour of this example. The concentric rings on the foot echo a finish on cylindrical blue-and-white bottles decorated mainly with dragons and made for the Court during the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century 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