清乾隆 / 嘉慶 白地套深褐料「永治」鼻煙壺 「飛龍在天利見天人」「雲行雨施萬國咸寧」字

Henry and Lynn Prager 伉儷收藏
Robert Kleiner，倫敦，1986年

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958

The snuff bottle is in overall good condition with a chip to the outer footrim. There are also tiny, barely visible nibbles to some of the glass overlay script on both sides.
"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."

There can be little doubt that this belongs to the same group as Sale 6, lot 155, where it is discussed. Since that bottle is datable to 1780, one may assume that this bottle was made around that time, although a slightly broader range is proposed.

The foot rim is excellent, with a confident and crisply cut rim almost perfectly matched by the overlay colour.

The two sentences inscribed on one side constitute the line text for the fifth line of the Qian hexagram in the Book of Changes: Feilong zai tian, li jian daren 飛龍在天，利見大人 (‘When a flying dragon is in the sky, it will be fitting to see the great man’). The inscription on the other side is two excerpts from a commentary on the same hexagram: Yunxing yushi, wanguo xian ning 雲行雨施，萬國咸寧 (‘Clouds scud and rain falls....the myriad states are all at peace’). (See Richard John Lynn, The Classic of Changes: A New Translation of the I Ching as Interpreted by Wang Bi[New York: Columbia University Press, 1994], pp. 129 and 137.) If the two seals here are read together, they form the term yongzhi 永治, meaning ‘Eternal Good Government’.