A WHITE JADE ‘PEONY’ SNUFF BOTTLE POSSIBLY PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG / JIAQING PERIOD

very well hollowed, carved with an overall design of overlapping petals, the foot consisting of an inverted flower head with similar petals, the stone of a pure white tone; the glass stopper with a vinyl collar

Sotheby’s New York, 14th March 1979, lot 230.
Collection of Gerd Lester, 1986?

Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch at the Galleries of Sydney L. Moss, Ltd., Hong Kong, 1987, cat. no. 28.
Kleine Schätze aus China. Snuff bottles—Sammlung von Mary und George Bloch erstmals in Österreich. Ausstellung vom 3. Mai bis zum 15. Juni 1993 im Kassensaal der Creditanstalt, Creditanstalt, Vienna, 1993, p. 6, cat. no. 27.

Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Volume 1, Hong Kong, 1996, cat. no. 33.

There is a faint bruise to the outer lip and a couple light nibbles around the edge of the foot, otherwise the snuff bottle is in good condition. The actual colour of the white jade is warmer compared to the catalogue illustration.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Compare a similar bottle in the J & J Collection, illustrated in Hugh Moss, Victor Graham, and Ka Bo Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, vol. 1, New York, 1993, p. 107, no. 48, that is presumably a product of the same workshop and is finished to an unusually matt polish, resembling the polish on a number of the finest of white nephrite animal-form snuff bottles, and it is superbly sculpted, with each leaf beautifully modelled and painstakingly separated from its companions.

The inverted-flower foot is a standard feature on Hindustan jade vessels, several of which have a foot very similar to this one. The Qianlong emperor was a keen collector of Hindustan jade-carving, and commissioned numerous Hindustand-style jades from the Palace Workshops from the early 1760s onwards and it may be that this bottle represents an expression of this obsession.