AN AMBER 'RESTING PIG' SNUFF BOTTLE QING DYNASTY, 18TH / 19TH CENTURY

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29th April 1992, lot 467.
Robert Hall, London, 1994. 

Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, British Museum, London, 1995, cat. no. 346.
Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1997.
Christopher Sin, Humphrey Hui, and Po Ming Kwong, ed., A Congregation of Snuff Bottle Connoisseurs: An Exhibition of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1996, cat. no. 241.

Zhao Lihong, Biyanhu jianshang yu shoucang [Connoisseurship and collection of snuff bottles], Changchun, 1996, p. 107, top left.
Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol. 7, Hong Kong, 2009, no. 1596.

There are two nicks to the outer lip, as well as some minute barely visible nibbles to the tip of the ruffled spine. The overall condition is otherwise very good.
"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 one of the rare amber versions of the well-known group of white nephrite animal-form snuff bottles. The appearance of similar forms, designs, and styles in two such different substances may be an indication of imperial production.

Intriguingly, this and the other known amber animal bottles are similar insofar as they are roughly finished on the inside, although not as roughly as the gourd of Sale 9, lot 41.

Rough interiors have implications for dating. There was a mid-Qing preference for shiny interiors to snuff bottles, probably due to increasingly fastidious connoisseurship dictating that a shiny surface was superior for keeping the snuff in peak condition. This trend appears to have been one that caught on in a big way only in the first decades of the nineteenth century.

All the amber animals known, and several of the figures that can be dated to the late-Qianlong or Jiaqing periods by reference to ceramic equivalents, have rough interiors, along with the gourd of Sale 9, lot 41. This suggests that they date from the Jiaqing reign or before.

For related bottles, see the commentary for this bottle in Treasury 7.