186 - A FAMILLE-ROSE PORCELAIN ‘COCKEREL’ SNUFF BOTTLE IMPERIAL KILNS, JINGDEZHEN, MARK AND PERIOD OF GUANGXU, 1874-1908

A FAMILLE-ROSE PORCELAIN ‘COCKEREL’ SNUFF BOTTLE IMPERIAL KILNS, JINGDEZHEN, MARK AND PERIOD OF GUANGXU, 1874-1908 To Be Sold Without Reserve Of elongated ovoid form with a cylindrical neck, wide mouth and recessed circular foot, painted with a continuous scene of five cockerel’s, the foot inscribed in underglaze-blue regular script with the six-character mark Da Qing Guangxu nian zhi (`made in the Guangxu period of the Qing dynasty’) Height: 6.4cm Provenance: Hugh Moss (private collection) Alex S. Cussons Richard Cussons Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 3rd May 1995, lot 590 Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd, 16th July 1995, (a copy of the original invoice available) A small group of Imperial cockerel bottles from this period are recorded, another being in the Ault Collection (Robert W. L. Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of John Ault, no. 194), usually of this rather bulbous, cylindrical form. A similar bottle, but with an appreciatory mark is also from the Cussons collection, and was sold in the same auction, as lot 592. For a discussion on the meaning of the cockerel, see Ka Bo Tsang `The Chicken and its Manifold Meanings’ in JICSBS, Autumn 1993, p. 17 Genuinely marked Imperial porcelain bottles from the Guangxu period are relatively rare, despite its length and more recent period. This group is among the most impressive of them in terms of both technique and drawing The green number painted on the lip of the bottle was the first numbering system used by Hugh Moss for his private collection from 1960 to about 1967 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