207 - A RARE CARVED WHITE JADE LOOP-HANDLED ‘BASKETWEAVE’ SNUFF BOTTLE POSSIBLY IMPERIAL, 1750-1850

A RARE CARVED WHITE JADE LOOP-HANDLED ‘BASKETWEAVE’ SNUFF BOTTLE POSSIBLY IMPERIAL, 1750-1850 To Be Sold Without Reserve Of well-hollowed, rounded rectangular form with a cylindrical neck, concave lip and no foot, carved to simulate a basket-weave container from which only the shoulders and neck of the bottle emerge, with a rope- border around the upper extremities of the basketweave, with two horizontal pierced loops on each narrow side for a hanging cord Height: 5.3cm Provenance: Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd, 25th March 2008, (a copy of the original invoice available) For a discussion on basket-weave bottles, see Moss, Graham, Tsang A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 2, Quartz, no. 347, where reference is made to an earlier entry, in Vol. 1 in white jade. It appears that the basket-weave bottle was a standard mid-Qing Imperial type and many of them were made for the Court. This, however, is not of the standard form, and may be a response to this Imperial output. It is also the only known basket-weave bottle with these rare cord handles on each narrow side, and because it was made to be suspended, there is no foot and the bottle does not stand on its own base very steadily 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