168 - A RARE FAMILLE-ROSE AND IRON-RED RELIEF-MOULDED ‘LONGEIVITY’ SNUFF BOTTLE IMPERIAL KILNS, JINGDEZHEN, FOUR-CHARACTER GILT MARK AND OF THE PERIOD OF QIANLONG, 1770-1799

A RARE FAMILLE-ROSE AND IRON-RED RELIEF-MOULDED ‘LONGEIVITY’ SNUFF BOTTLE IMPERIAL KILNS, JINGDEZHEN, FOUR-CHARACTER GILT MARK AND OF THE PERIOD OF QIANLONG, 1770-1799 To Be Sold Without Reserve Of compressed, elongated apple shape, tapering sharply towards the foot, with a flared neck, flat lip and flat oval foot, moulded on each side with an identical subject of Shoulao, the God of Longevity, standing leaning on a staff, to which is tied a double-gourd, while a bat flies overhead and his familiar stag stands beside him with a lingzhi in its mouth, all set against a raised diaper ground consisting of interlinked fylfots (swastika’s), beneath a neck band of raised, formalized lingzhi heads, the figures decorated in enamels, on an iron-red ground, the foot inscribed in gilt enamel Qianlong nianzhi (‘made during the Qianlong period’), the lip gilt Height: 6.7cm Provenance: Ko Collection (597/6, acquired, Jinanfu, 1925) Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd, 7th May 1998, (a copy of the original invoice available) This is one of a rare series from among the earliest of moulded porcelain bottles during the last decades of the Qianlong period, which ended with his death in 1799 rather than his abdication in 1795, since the use of his reign mark was continued on works of art at Court as a courtesy until he died. They occur in various colours of ground, including gold and blue, and all appear to have been made by taking two impressions from the same mould and joining them to get an identical design on each side. For another from the same mould, but with a blue ground, see Chinese Snuff Bottles Magazine, no. 5, p. 53, fig 25 (although without a reign mark that example was dated rather later than it should have been). This is one of the finest known of the entire group, reign marked, which is not standard, and in superb condition. Although the stopper looks and may be original, a number of porcelain stoppers were made for the Ko collection in China during the first half of this century and it is just possible that this was among them, although as a rule when they were made, they made spares which remained in the stopper-box which went with the collection, and there are no others of this type in that box 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