209 - A CARVED DUANSTONE SNUFF BOTTLE 1750-1850

A CARVED DUANSTONE SNUFF BOTTLE 1750-1850 To Be Sold Without Reserve Of rounded-rectangular form with bulging main-side panels, with a flared neck, flat lip and flat, bulging-rectangular foot, carved on one side in low relief in a framed panel with an exuberant spray of lingzhi with many heads growing from a single plant and another, single head growing nearby, beside a natural rock formation on a grassy bank, with bamboo beyond, the matching panel on the other side undecorated, the flattened narrow sides plain Height: 6.4cm Provenance: Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd, 25th March 2008, (a copy of the original invoice available) This unique Duanstone snuff bottle is of a shape much favoured for ceramics in the late-Qianlong period, from the late-Qianlong into the Jiaqing reign. Duanstone was a material beloved of the scholar class who would sometimes carve their own inkstones from it, but far more frequently inscribed them with seal-carving tools. It is likely that this bottle was made with a view to a scholar/owner later inscribing the plain panel on the back. The form would allow for an Imperial origin, but it is perhaps more likely that a private workshop would leave the panel blank so that a future scholar/owner might inscribe it 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