A 'ROBIN'S EGG' PORCELAIN SNUFF BOTTLE QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG / JIAQING PERIOD

Collection of Albert Pyke, Los Angeles, circa 1963.
Sydney L. Moss Ltd.
Collection of Elizabeth and Ladislas Kardos.
Reif Collection.
Christie’s New York, 18th October 1993, lot 19.

Chinese Snuff Bottles. An Exhibition from British Columbia Collectors, Canadian Society for Asian Arts, Vancouver Centennial Museum, Vancouver, 1977, slide no. 52 .
Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, British Museum, London, 1995, cat. no. 209.
Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1997.

Ruzhen Zhao, Jianbian Biyanhu [Connoisseurship of snuff bottles], Taipei, 1994, p. 70, no. 83.
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. 1165.

Repair to a chip on the outer lip. Surface scratches and abrasions from wear. The rasied relief on both ring handles is worn and there is a tiny chip to one of the lions ears.
"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 an example of the typically eighteenth-century styles of robin’s-egg glaze that was discussed under Sale 6, lot 106, consisting of a mixture of turquoise-blue and purple. In the that example there was a distinct sense of feathering of the two colours, whereas here it is obvious that turquoise splashes have been added to an existing purple glaze, probably by being blown onto the surface with the aid of the same sort of tool used to apply soufflé enamel grounds. The European equivalent consists of two narrow tubes placed at right angles to each other with two of their open ends touching. The vertical tube is placed in the liquid pigment, the horizontal one in the mouth. Blown air passing across the top of the upright tube draws the air out of it and sucks up the colour below to spray it as a series of tiny flecks of colour; in the application of an enamelled ground, this achieves an even covering free of any brushstrokes, and when producing a two-colour glaze, it creates a random texture in purple splashes.

The dating here is more certain than Sale 6, lot 106 because of the form, the mask handles in particular. They take the form of realistic-looking, dog-like beasts with floppy ears, holding small, circular handles and placed so high on the narrow sides that they are literally on the shoulders rather than at the usual position on the narrow sides. These particular beasts were one of many imperial types from the Qianlong period; the small circular rings are typical of the early- to mid-reign, although they survived thereafter alongside the evolved, elongated-ovoid rings; and the placing is found on a range of hard-stone and glass bottles attributable to the court from the late eighteenth century. Although this piece may have been made at the turn of the century, it is perhaps more likely to have been made during the last decades of the Qianlong reign.

For a similar glaze on a different form, see Sotheby’s Billingshurst, 31st March 1994, lot 270.