Bottle ID: 181

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MOLDED AND PAINTED DOUBLE FISH

Date: 1796-1820

Height: 76 mm

Porcelain, in the form of a confronted double fish rising from formalized waves, with a cylindrical neck to a flared mouth, and with a recessed oval foot, decorated in overglaze enamels of green, yellow, purple, red and blue, with the scales and outlines of the eyes and the waves enameled in black.

Similar Examples:

Jutheau, Viviane. Guide du Collectionneur de Tabatieres Chinoises, p. 90, no. 8.
Lawrence, Clare. Miniature Masterpieces from the Middle Kingdom. The Monimar Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, pp. 190-191, no. 89.
Moss, Hugh M. Snuff Bottles of China, pp. 124 -125, no. 289.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.

The Jiaqing period onwards saw a huge increase in the quantities of porcelain bottles produced at Jingde Zhen outside the Imperial Kiln complex. This was a result of the popularity of both porcelain as a medium and snuff bottles as a desirable object. As the production of porcelain bottles increased, so did the forms that they appeared in. These innovative shapes included figures such as Liu hai, animals and natural shapes. The clever 'double fish' shape was served well by its medium and was seen both as a Buddhist emblem (of the twin fish) and as highly symbolic.

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