Bottle ID: 00361

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PORCELAIN, ENAMELED FAMILLE ROSE, FIGURES W/MULE & CART

Date: 1780-1840

Height: 69 mm

Porcelain, soft paste, of cylindrical form with an everted mouth and slightly concave base, decorated with famille rose and iron-red enamels with a continuous scene of the demon queller, Zhonggui, astride a mule, escorting his sister to her wedding, the sister in a wheeled sedan chair being pushed by a demon, with two others walking in front, and a fourth holding an umbrella over Zhonggui; the foot unglazed and incised with concentric circles.

Attributed to Jingde Zhen.

Similar Examples:

Snuff Bottles - The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Vol. 47, Beijing, 2003, p. 219, no. 331.
Christie, Manson & Woods, St. James's, London, June 12, 1972, lot 48, The Ko Family Collection, Part II.
Sotheby's London, June 21, 1995, lot 146, The Stone Picking Studio.

Provenance:

Hugh Moss [HK] Ltd.
Robert Hall
China Guardian, Auction Co., Ltd., Beijing, October 21, 1996, lot 1908

Exhibited:

Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007

This is unique among recorded porcelain bottles, with its superbly painted design on a crackled creamy ground. It is of a highly unusual shape for famille rose enameled snuff bottles, but not unusual for underglaze blue and white porcelain bottles, in terms of its form, popular subject matter and foot detail. It is likely that these bottles inspired the artisan to take a more common material and use a different medium for the decoration.

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