A CANTON ENAMEL 'PHOENIX POUCH' SNUFF BOTTLE QING DYNASTY, YONGZHENG / QIANLONG PERIOD

Hugh M. Moss Ltd., prior to 1973.
Drouot (Millon-Jutheau), Paris, 6th November 1983, lot 74.
Belfort Collection.

Four Seasons Hotel, Toronto, October 1983.
Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, British Museum, London, 1995, cat. no. 21.
Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1997.

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. 1128.

Small chip in outer lip repainted. 4 x 4 mm. Elongated area of repainting on one lower narrow side stretching to foot. 22 mm x 6 mm. Another smaller area repainted to the left of this near to the base, 15 mm x 5 mm.
"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."

This is a more sophisticated, probably evolved version of lot 98 in this sale. The sheets of beaten metal forming the two halves of the bottle have been joined evenly in a fluid, continuous curve, and the entire surface other than the lip has been covered with enamel. The colouring is also more sophisticated, making use of the full famille rose palette to exuberant ends. This might date from the very last years of the Kangxi reign, but is more likely to have been produced in the Yongzheng, or possibly even in the early Qianlong period.

The style here is typically southern, tending toward the rococo that indicates the distinction of Guangzhou wares from their Beijing counterparts. As a general rule, Beijing designs, particularly formalised floral scrolls, tended to be painted in a more austere, coherent style than their Guangzhou counterparts. (There are exceptions, of course.) The Guangzhou tendency toward over-complication and confusing colours is evident in the birds’ wings, which are formalised into a series of curving feathers, each of a different colour, some with frilly additional drawing over the colours, and some even changing colour midway along the feather. Taken together with a similar tendency in the scrolling vines that trail from the birds’ beaks, the effect is that of an exuberant textile design, a proverbial riot of colour—veering close to the barroom brawl.

However one might question the coherence of the design and colouring, there is no doubt that technically and artistically this piece is one of the finest of the earlier works from Guangzhou, echoing the quality of the example in the imperial illustrated in Li Jiufang 2002, no. 137 and Yang Boda 2002 – 2004, vol. 6, p. 122, plate 185, which may have come from the same time and workshop. The early dating of these pouches is endorsed by one in the Denis Low Collection (Kleiner 1999, no. 8) that is of a related design; that pouch features a black ground, which was typical of the Yongzheng period and then quickly phased out early in the Qianlong reign. Even though the occasional black ground may have resurfaced on private wares produced in the South after 1736, it remains a useful indicator of a Yongzheng date for enamels on metal in general.