175 - A RARE CORAL-RED GLAZED PORCELAIN ‘BUDDHIST LIONS’ SNUFF BOTTLE POSSIBLY IMPERIAL, JINGDEZHEN KILNS, 1770-1830

A RARE CORAL-RED GLAZED PORCELAIN ‘BUDDHIST LIONS’ SNUFF BOTTLE POSSIBLY IMPERIAL, JINGDEZHEN KILNS, 1770-1830 To Be Sold Without Reserve Of cylindrical form with a pinched neck flaring widely, flat lip and recessed circular foot surrounded by a flat foot rim, the outer body covered with a coral-coloured iron-red glaze painted in gilt with a design of two Buddhist Lions playing with brocaded and beribboned balls beneath a shoulder border of formalized lingzhi heads, the recessed foot unglazed Height: 6cm Provenance: Hugh M. Moss Ltd, An Exhibition of Snuff Bottles, June 1970, no.333 Gerry P. Mack Sotheby`s, New York, The Gerry P. Mack Collection of Important Chinese Snuff Bottles, 25 October 1997, Lot 272 Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd, 8th November 1997, (a copy of the original invoice available) This is a unique porcelain bottle. Coral-red glazed bottles are rare, and the colour of this is as fine as any known, simulated the most valued kind of coral of a deep, almost blood-red colour. This is also the only known coral glazed bottle of this distinctive form, like a column with a pinched neck and wide mouth, the form usually occupied by underglaze-blue dragons for the Court which imitate columns in temples and palaces when they have been wrapped around with woven dragon-carpets for ceremonial occasions. The subject of the Buddhist lions was a common courtly subject and may indicate, along with the form, an Imperial bottle. Gilt on coral glaze was also a known, if rare, type made for the Court under the Daoguang Emperor (1821- 1850) 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