208 - A CLOISONNE ENAMEL ‘SNAKE’ SNUFF BOTTLEPROBABLY BEIJING, 1800-1880

A CLOISONNE ENAMEL ‘SNAKE’ SNUFF BOTTLEPROBABLY BEIJING, 1800-1880 To Be Sold Without Reserve Of compressed ovoid form with a lightly flared, cylindrical neck, flat lip, and recessed, flat, oval foot surrounded by a protruding, flattened, oval footrim, decorated with a continuous design of formalized clouds and flames on a turquoise-blue ground with, on each main side, a coiled snake, the neck with a band of pendant formalized lingzhi heads, the foot enamelled in turquoise blue, the exposed metal all gilt Height: 7cm Provenance: Marsha Vargas, San Francisco, October 2003 Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd, 25th March 2008, (a copy of the original invoice available) Among cloisonné bottles this subject seems to be unique. The snake is one of the Nine Poisonous Creatures which sometimes appear together as decoration, but the snake alone would probably not represent these. More likely it was made for someone who was born in the year of the snake, making this a Zodiac subject 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