A YELLOW-GROUND PORCELAIN 'FIVE PEACHES' SNUFF BOTTLE DAYAZHAI MARK, QING DYNASTY, GUANGXU PERIOD

Robert Kleiner, 1999.

Robert Kleiner & Company, A Catalogue of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Hong Kong, 1990, no. 34.
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. 1427.

Two glaze bubble in the lip, gilding a little worn, One tiny chip in the foot. One fine crack 2.3cm, possibly just within the glaze, running down 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 Empress Dowager (Xiaoqin 孝欽, Yehonala, later known as Cixi; 1835–1908) was a minor concubine of the Xianfeng emperor whose fortunes changed dramatically when she bore him a son and heir to the throne. She learned about affairs of state by being given the task of classifying the emperor’s memorials for him. When the Xianfeng emperor died, his heir, the Tongzhi emperor, was still a minor; under the late emperor’s will, a council of regents was set up to rule. Each decree they issued, however, had to be impressed at its beginning with an imperial seal that, while the emperor was a minor, was entrusted to the empress Dowager and the senior consort of the emperor. The first decree they issued made them both Empress Dowagers, and before long the Regency was overthrown and Cixi managed to assume full power for herself, power that she maintained by whatever means were necessary throughout the Tongzhi emperor’s short and hapless life (he died inexplicably at the age of nineteen, without an heir). The Empress Dowager managed to force the son of her younger sister into succession at the age of five, thus ensuring another lengthy period of her rule. Even when the young emperor came of age, he had little power. In 1898, when he was twenty-nine, his attempts to institute reforms were put to an end when the empress Dowager confined him to his quarters in the Summer Palace.

There is a range of porcelains that bear the studio name Daya zhai (‘Studio of Great Elegance’; sometimes translated as ‘Studio of Great Culture’) that some say were made at the imperial kilns for the celebration of Cixi’s sixtieth birthday in 1894. Others suggest that the same name may have been used on other birthday wares in other years.

The Empress Dowager was renowned for her largesse, which contributed significantly to the problems faced by her dying dynasty—vast funds designated for military use were diverted, for instance, to the rebuilding of the Summer Palace in the 1880s. She was also in the habit of distributing imperial ceramics on a grand scale. This resulted in large quantities of genuine wares being distributed among officials and the literati in general to the point where it became fashionable to present imperial ceramics as part of the dowry offered to accompany a bride to her new home. Before long, the potential profitability of faking imperial ceramics prompted dealers to vie with each other in encouraging the production of far less expensive fakes that they passed off as genuine (Liu Liang-yu 1991, p. 243).

The only clue in distinguishing Guangxu fakes from genuine wares produced at the same time and in the same place is that the imperial wares were of the finest quality available at the time, whereas the fakes were produced more cheaply to wring the most profit from a less-discerning market.

That this bottle was made as part of a series, as would be usual, is suggested by the survival of several identical bottles: Geng 1992, no. 184; Kleiner 1999, no. 149; Hanhai, Beijing, 20 December 1997, lot 1374; Wen Guihua 2006, p. 222, nos. 235–237, and Robert Kleiner & Company 1999, no. 34. The style is also reflected in other products for the court. There is an example of the same shape and similar design that bears a six-character iron-red Guangxu reign mark, but with a blue ground instead of yellow (Hall 1989, no. 5).  

Snuff bottles made for the empress Dowager are considerably rarer than other wares, but their existence suggests that she, in common with the male emperors of China from the Kangxi emperor onwards, was a snuff taker.