清乾隆 粉彩「太平有象」鼻煙壺

佛羅里達州私人收藏
Eric Stang and Jeffrey Searles，佛羅里達州，2004年6月

Hugh Moss、Victor Graham 及曾嘉寶，《A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection》，卷6，香港，2007年，編號1191

Minor wear to the guilding across the lip and completely worn from the saddle. Tiny areas of wear to the enamel on the raised relief.
"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."

A good many moulded porcelain bottles from the mid-Qing period are of animal, vegetable, or figural forms, and many of these were not reign marked. Several of them would have been inventions of the late Qianlong, and this elephant is likely to be one of them, although an early Jiaqing date is equally plausible. Because of their auspicious symbolism, elephants were moderately common subjects in the Qing palaces. They are known from the eighteenth century in nephrite and from late in the Qianlong reign in imperial yellow glass; it seems highly unlikely that the emperor would not have thought of moulding them in porcelain the moment the art form evolved to the point of producing free-standing animal forms. Nothing about the enamels or modelling here would preclude a late-Qianlong date.

Several different moulds produced of this small reclining white elephant are discussed, along with another example, in Moss, Graham, and Tsang 1993, under no. 237, which is very similar to this piece, but from a different mould. Another is in the Bragge Album (fig 1, and for the album, Moss, Graham, and Tsang 1993, no. 481, and JICSBS, Winter 2006). Bragge seems to have had a second version, however, since no. 63 in the 1880 edition of his Bibliotheca Nicotiana is listed as ‘Elephant kneeling; pink striped howdah and neck of bottle gilded; pink ivory stopper’. The illustration hardly shows a bottle with a pink striped ‘howdah’, by which the cataloguer must have meant the zun-shaped vase, and the stopper appears to be coral and gilt bronze, not ‘pink ivory’, although staining ivory to a coral colour was a known way of imitating the more precious material. Others versions are in Stevens 1976, no. 308 and 310; Hugh M. Moss Ltd 1970, no. 319; Racehlle R. Holden 1994, no. 58 (with a more elaborately decorated saddle blanket); China Guardian, Beijing, 24 October 1996, lot 2; Sotheby’s, London, 14 November 2000, lot 145; Sotheby’s, London, 23 March 1988, lot 38, and Christie’s, New York, 22 March 1999, lot 50. An elephant bottle that has retained its original stopper, identical to that of the present example, was in Hong Kong Auctioneers & Estate Agency, 12 June 1993, lot 313. Other elephant moulds are also recorded, including a more elaborate, standing beast set on a small stand imitating wood (see Fuller 1970, pl. 37) and a different standing model (China Guardian, Beijing, 24 October 1996, lot 3). Another was in the Eric Young Collection (Sotheby’s, London, 24 April 1989, lot 351).

This example is among the finest known and is in pristine condition, with all the gold and iron-red enamels still intact, which is unusual since most early moulded porcelains show obvious signs of use and wear. It gives us an insight into how such bottles would have looked straight from the kiln.