160 - A BLUE AND WHITE ‘SOFT PASTE’ ‘BUDDHIST LIONS’ SNUFF BOTTLE JINGDEZHEN, 1810-1860

A BLUE AND WHITE ‘SOFT PASTE’ ‘BUDDHIST LIONS’ SNUFF BOTTLE JINGDEZHEN, 1810-1860 To Be Sold Without Reserve Of cylindrical form with a wide, lipped neck and recessed cylindrical foot, painted with a continuous design of five Buddhist lions (Dogs of Fo) playing with two brocaded balls, the foot glazed Height: 5.6cm Provenance: Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd, 5th September 1994, (a copy of the original invoice available) The slightly beige material and the crackling are of a type known as soft-paste, but in fact soft-paste porcelain wasn’t made in China, it was made in Europe before they learned the secret, from China, of making hard- paste, or true porcelain. There is a superficial resemblance, however, between a distinctive kind of hard-paste Chinese porcelain and its European, soft-paste equivalent, hence the mistaken designation. This Chinese variety was developed in the fifteenth century apparently to arrive at a ground which would give greater definition to the cobalt blue, which tended to seep into the glaze, diffusing and becoming blurred. The type enjoyed a renaissance during the Qing dynasty 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