An Enamelled Silver Snuff Bottle Qing Dynasty

Alex S. Cussons.
Hugh Moss Ltd., Hong Kong, 1996.

Moss et al., 1996-2009, vol. 6, no. 1122.

One small petal of turquoise enamel is missing just below the base of the neck.
"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 of the same style of shaolan 燒藍 enamelling as Sale 7, lot 16 and is of a similar technique to cloisonné enamels, although it is only partially filled with enamels. The enamels themselves are the thin, transparent ones referred to under Sale 7, lot 16, with the addition of an unusual white enamel.

Bottles of this group are sufficiently rare that there is very little supporting information by which to judge them. None is inscribed or dated. They are generally considered late Qing, which may be appropriate, but this sort of enamelling was certainly produced at or for the court during the late Qianlong era; thus, they may have been produced either at the palace workshops or at Guangzhou for the court during the mid-Qing period. Another link with the court, although it is not associated with any particular date, is found in the diaper ground. Precisely this pattern was used at the palace on cloisonné wares as early as the Kangxi period. It underlies a design of colourful butterflies on a magnificently exuberant Kangxi incense burner with elephant-head handles and supported on four ‘legs’ in the form of foreign tribute-bearers in the imperial collection in Beijing (Yang Boda 2002 – 2004, vol. 5, pl. 189). Judged independently, this particular bottle might be considered to be a late-Qianlong palace product, but it is part of a small group of similar bottles of identical form, surely from the same workshop at the same time, that appear more likely to be late Qing. (One with panels of auspicious, scholarly objects in foliate panels was in Unique Art Auction, Taipei, 23 October 1999, lot 748, and another with an overall floral decoration made its appearance in Robert C. Eldred Co., 16 August 1973, lot 69).

This is one of the most impressive of the group. It seems to reflect the trend in the late Qianlong for partial cloisonné, as in Sale 5, lot 55: the ground is left as un-enamelled silver, which adds a nice textural dimension by producing a contrast between the now-dull silver ground and the shiny enamels. Whether this is an immediate reflection of the Qianlong trend or one more distant in time is not so certain, however. The workmanship is unsurpassed in the art form; the elegant composition is very painterly, considering the constraints of the medium. It is one of the rare bottles from the entire group that includes an opaque white in the palette, used mixed with other colours in the tradition of cloisonné enamels on porcelain. The colouring is very well conceived.