A YELLOW CHALCEDONY 'DRAGON AND PHOENIX' SNUFF BOTTLE QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD

Cai Shi Xuan (Stone Picking Studio) Collection.
Sotheby’s London, 21st June 1995, lot 101.

Wang Ning, 'Saleroom News: Sotheby's London, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of the Stone Picking Studio (Cai Shi Xuan) on Wednesday 21st June, 1995', Arts of Asia, November-December 1995, p. 121.
Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol. 2, Hong Kong, 1998, no. 356.

Good condition.
"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 exquisite little bottle is unquestionably an imperial product from the same group as Sale 7, lot 80 and Sale 8, lot 1075. It is in the same range of chalcedony material, although slightly darker in colour than many, is superbly formed and hollowed, and has an archaistic design of similar style to Sale 8, lot 1075, although miraculously even more delicately carved and refined. Apart from these identifying features, it is derived from a ceramic form, the danping 膽瓶子 (‘gall-bladder vase’), with the addition of bronze-type loop and ring handles. Adoption of both ancient styles and ceramic and bronze forms was a standard of Qianlong imperial production, particularly from the palace. It also has a neat upper neck rim, typical of palace production. As if all this were not signature enough, the design is also archaistic and shares with Sale 8, lot 1075 the feature of having the raised plane of carving scalloped, with a concave depression.

The two creatures appear to be kui dragons at first glance, or possibly even rather florid and highly stylised chi 螭dragons, but that they are intended to be a dragon and fenghuang is indicated less by the beaked, bird-like heads of each (a possible alternative on chi dragons to the feline standard) than by the fact that only one is shown with a distinct and rather chi-like clawed paw, while the other has no legs and an obvious wing in place of the rather rococo flame-like extensions of the other. Since the dragon and fenghuang design was a standard for imperial weddings, it is likely that this exceptional bottle was made to commemorate such a wedding in the imperial family at some time during the latter part of the Qianlong period.

The band of formalised decoration immediately above these beasts appears to be rather like the standard lingzhi-head border found so often on palace wares, including the previous two examples, but it is not. It is clearly intended to make reference to that design but is cleverly made up of alternately reversed ‘C’-scrolls of the type found frequently on archaic bronzes and jade carvings, with raised bosses derived from the same sources. With this clever device both standard designs are recalled, along with their longevity symbolism, while at the same time the Qianlong emperor’s love of archaic references in art is satisfied. The border above it, derived from surviving Han lacquer decoration but also a style that would originally have been found as decorative motifs on a wider range of artefacts and architecture that have not survived so successfully, also refers to the ancient culture. It is an extremely rare border for snuff bottles.

With its elegant form, the simulated loose rings and loops adding a lovely touch, and with the impeccably fine carving and polishing and powerful imagery, this bottle is one of the most exciting of the whole group.