清十八 / 十九世紀 寳石藍地套涅白朱紅料「二龍爭珠」圖鼻煙壺 揚州派製

Kenneth Brown, Inc.，美國加州 La Jolla
Vad Jelton 1966前
Eric Young
香港蘇富比1993年10月28日，編號1065

Hugh Moss、Victor Graham 及曾嘉寶，《A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection》，卷5，香港，2002年，編號1016

It is 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 rare and impressive bottle is decorated with one of the few designs featuring dragons to be found among the multiple-overlay output of the Yangzhou. Two others depict dragons together with carp, one in the Baur Collection in Geneva (Collections Baur 17 [1973]), the other in Hong Kong 1977, and one magnificent five-clawed creature appears on a bottle offered by Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 29th April 1992, lot 338 (previously illustrated in The Snuff Bottle Collector6, April 1972). The imperial yellow examples (Sale 4, lot 96 and Franz 2011, p. 56, no. 364) suggest that the school produced bottles for the court, and the five-clawed dragon seems to confirm this. The dragons on the pair also featuring carp may be employed for their symbolic significance only, rather than to indicate any imperial connection, but this one may have been made for a member of the influential minority entitled to use the four-clawed dragon emblem. It was perhaps made for the court, since there are plentiful examples of four-clawed dragons formed part of the imperial production, and they were likely to have been made as gifts from the emperor to the ennobled.

Stylistically, the dragons here are distinctive, with tails of a leaf shape that does not seem to appear elsewhere in carved-glass dragon designs, and may be an element of this group when products were other than for the court. It may be significant that the only example from the Yangzhou displaying a five-clawed dragon features a different style of tail, more in keeping with the imperial norm, suggesting the school may have adjusted its dragon style for imperial orders.

This is a magnificent example of the multiple-overlay style of the school, with a rare dynamic colour combination, carved to high standards and in the usual folk-art style, but with well-defined detailing of the neck rim and the foot rim unusual for the group.