146 - Snuffbox made of light celadon nephrite, incised with a poem by Emperor Qianlong and the mark 御製 - yu zhi, China, Imperial Workshops of Beijing, Qianlong period, 1736–1795

Snuffbox made of light celadon nephrite, incised with a poem by Emperor Qianlong and the mark 御製 - yu zhi, China, Imperial Workshops of Beijing, Qianlong period, 1736–1795 Shield-shaped with two convex sides and a flared neck, the snuffbox is engraved on one side with a “tagetes erecta” (or marigold) and on the other with a poem: 葉花與菊總無同 / 色則同黃更帶紅 / 謾道姓名漏芳譜 / 稱觥曾是入豳風, which can be translated as: “Its leaves and flowers bear no resemblance to the colors of ordinary chrysanthemums, / For against its golden-yellow background, vivid red hues shine through. / Do not lightly say that its name has been omitted from the registers of famous flowers, / For it was by raising its cup in a toast to the emperor that it first found its way into the songs of the land of Bin” and the inscription 御製詩 - Yu Zhi Shi – “Composed by Imperial Decree.” Coral stopper encircled by a copper alloy band. Height: 5.5 cm Significant wear on the domed portion of each side, making the text difficult to read in some places. Publication: Laurence Souksi, Wonders of Chinese Miniature Art: Chinese Bottles and Snuffboxes from the Commandeur Collection, Paris, 2000, no. 27, p. 15 (illustrated). Provenance: Galerie Bertrand de Lavergne, Paris, 1999. This is an imperial poem composed by Emperor Qianlong, taken from the work *Collection of Imperial Poems, Fourth Collection* (御製詩四集). More specifically, this verse is part of a series of poems celebrating autumn plants, titled “Eight Varieties of Autumn Flowers.”