A CYLINDRICAL FAMILLE-VERTE PORCELAIN 'FLORAL PATTERNS' SNUFF BOTTLE QING DYNASTY, 19TH CENTURY

Jing Hing Co., Los Angeles, December 2001.
Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd., 2002.

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. 1408.

Minor invisible wear through use, otherwise in 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 is an extremely rare design for a cylindrical snuff bottle, made still rarer by the unusual use of the earlier famille-vertepalette that was used only occasionally in the nineteenth century (often on wares that purported to be from the Kangxi period, when the palette was the standard). Having used a typically mid- to late-Qing form with no false mark and with a design that would not be associated particularly with the Kangxi period, however, the maker seems innocent of any intention to feign an early date, so the enamels are used as an aesthetic choice, in which role they prove extremely worthy.

A geometric design would seem to require little skill: There are no difficult figures to delineate, no three-dimensional spaces to convey on the two-dimensional plane, no landscape features to array within the circumference of the bottle; all one needs, it is easy to conclude, is a steady hand and dogged determination. But with patterns such as this, as with multi-faceted designs on glass or other snuff bottles, any mistake impacts exponentially; make one small square larger than those around it or render it a slightly different shape, and all those it touches thereafter have to be adjusted as well, producing an obvious weakness in the overall design. It is not what is painted that matters, but how it is painted. This bottle is painted with extraordinary commitment and skill, not to mention a very well-considered colour scheme. The ranks of pattern are as neatly arrayed as brocade from a loom, the faultless design evenly applied and well balanced.