AN ENAMELLED PORCELAIN SNUFF BOTTLE

of rounded form with a cylindrical neck and oval foot, finely painted in famille-rose enamels on one side with a scene of Queen Victoria surrounded by courtiers, and on the other side with figures on a steam-driven junk, the base with a four character Daoguang nianzhi seal mark in iron-red

Christie's New York, 21st September 1995, lot 304.
Clare Lawrence Ltd.

Good condition. Some rubbing/flaking of the gilded detials and some very light rubbing the enamels in the area of the chimmney stacks of the boat.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The subject of Queen Victoria appears similarly executed on a number of porcelain snuff bottles, some with a steam-powered junk on the opposite side, and others with either an inscription or a group of figures playing croquet. The designs are copied from a series of Chinese paintings of European subjects, attributed by virtue of inscriptions on some of the bottles, to a Chinese artist, Wu Peishan, who had in turn copied the subjects from original drawings by Captain P. Anstruther of the Madras Artillery.

A bottle painted with the same subjects as the present example is illustrated and discussed by Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Collection of Mary and George Bloch, Hong Kong, 2008, Volume 6, Part 3, pp. 703-707. Moss et al, ibid, p. 703, fig. 1, reproduce an image of the Chinese watercolor of Queen Victoria and her courtiers from which the present scene is taken, and note that Anstruther was captured by the Chinese in 1840 and held captive in Ningbo, where he executed drawings of Western subjects for his captors. Many of these drawings were found in his cell when the British eventually took control of the city. It seems likely that the Chinese made copies of the drawings for distribution and for probable presentation to the Emperor. The copies bear lengthy (and not always entirely accurate) Chinese inscriptions naming 'Anshi dela' or 'An Tede' (a transliteration of Anstruther) as the artist and explaining the scenes depicted, and clearly demonstrate the intense interest the Chinese held at this period for all things Western, despite the continuing hostility between China and Britain.