AN IMPERIAL ENAMELLED GLASS 'FLOWER BASKET' SNUFF BOTTLE PALACE WORKSHOPS, BLUE ENAMEL YUZHI MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

with a flat lip and protruding flat foot, carved in relief with a continuous partial design, coloured and completed in famille-rose enamels, of a basket containing the lower portion of the bottle, with two loop handles linked by a longer handle running across one shoulder of the bottle, the basket containing various flowers (orchids, asters, roses, peonies, and begonias), the neck with a band of formalized lingzhi, the foot inscribed yuzhi ('by Imperial command') in blue enamel; with a tourmaline stopper

Collection of Lilla S. Perry.
Collection of Bob C. Stevens.
Sotheby’s New York, 26th March 1982, lot 75.

Snuff Bottles of the Ch'ing Dynasty, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1978, cat. no. 29.
L'Arcade Chaumet, Paris, June 1982.
Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch at the Galleries of Sydney L. Moss, Ltd., Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London, 1987, cat. no. 2.
Creditanstalt, Vienna, 1993.
Chinese Snuff Bottles: A Miniature Art from the Collection of George and Mary Bloch, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1994, cat. no. 20.
National Museum of Singapore, Singapore, 1994-1995.
Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, The British Museum, London, 1995, cat. no. 32.
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1997.

Bob C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York, 1976, no. 959.
Hugh Moss, 'Enamelled Glass Wares of the Ku Yüeh Hsüan Group', Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, June 1978, p. 13, fig 4.
Bob C. Stevens, 'Review of the Exhibition Snuff Bottles of the Ch'ing Dynasty', Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, December 1978, p. 36, fig. 29.
Hugh Moss, 'Chinese Snuff Bottles: Toward a Better Understanding', Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, Winter 1984, p. 13, fig. 18.
Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, Hong Kong, 1987, no. 2.
Terese Tse Bartholomew, 'Botanical Motifs in Chinese Art', Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, Autumn 1988, p. 7.
Hugh Moss, 'Mysteries of the Ancient Moon', Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, Spring 2006, p. 30, fig. 38.
Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol. 6, Hong Kong, 2007, no. 1105.

There is a tiny chip on the yellow enamel of the handle to the basket as it crosses the shoulder of the bottle, otherwise the bottle is in overall extremely good condition. There is a slight lean to the bottle.
"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."

The subject and workmanship of this bottle insinuates that it may be the product of the Imperial Palace Workshop in Beijing. The partial relief design is characteristic of that seen on the Guyue xuan double-plane group, as are some of the decorative motifs. However, if the relief were absent and the object were single-plane enamelled glass, it may also be classified as one of the closely-related late-Qianlong group represented by another bottle in the Bloch collection, illustrated in Moss et al., 1996-2009, vol. 6, no. 1106.

This is also the only bottle of this type that is inscribed with a two character yuzhi mark, rather than the more commonly found Guyue xuan or Qianlong nianzhi marks. The inscription, which may be translated as 'By Imperial Command', denotes an imperial interest in its manufacture, possibly that of the Qianlong emperor.  Snuff bottles from the mid-Qing period bearing the two-character yuzhi mark are rare, although the mark may be found on a slip-decorated Yixing bottle in the J&J Collection, illustrated in Moss, Graham, & Tsang, 1993, pp. 422-423, no. 253, attributed to Qianlong's reign.