Bottle ID: 00273

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PORCELAIN, ENAMELED FAMILLE ROSE, PEONIES & FLORAL SPRAYS

Date: 1796-1820

Height: 45 mm

Porcelain, hard paste, of elongated flattened shield shape, with flattened sides and everted mouth, enameled in the famille rose palette with iron-red and gilding, within a vignette on each side with three peonies and floral sprays amongst leafy branches; the sides and neck decorated with a classic scrolling pattern; the base with a four character iron-red Jiaqing nianzhi mark in seal script and of the period.

Imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Jingde Zhen.

Similar Examples:

Kleiner, Robert W. L. Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of John Ault, 1990, p. 72, no. 122.
Chang Lin-sheng. Snuff Bottles in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, 1991, pp. 125-126, nos. 89 and 90.
Sotheby's, New York, March 22, 2000, lot 204, A Mid-West Collection.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Alexander Brody
Yeung Tat Chee

Exhibited:

Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007

Published:

Lawrence, Clare. The Alexander Brody Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, 1995, p. 51, no. 73
Brody, Alexander. Old Wine into Old Bottles: A Collector's Commonplace Book, 1993, p. 100 and p. 157

The shape of this bottle is known as the 'sedan-chair vase' form. The term is taken from the shape of the porcelain hanging vases made for sedan chairs used in the eighteenth century, and made under the supervision of Tang Ying. On the 21st day of the 11th month of 1743, the Archives of the Imperial Household Workshops state: 'Tang Ying received a letter from Haiwang with an edict saying: ' Ask Tang Ying to use the design, color and glaze of this sedan-chair vase as a prototype to fire some snuff bottles of varied shapes and colors. Remember to make them neither too large or too small. It is not necessary to fire the snuff bottle stoppers...'. The response to this edict provides a fascinating insight into the production of Imperial porcelain snuff bottles. The Archival records state: 'Tang Ying in a memorial to the Emperor stated his response and follow-up actions. As it was winter, the clay and raw materials were all frozen. According to the annual tradition, the artisans were on winter vacation. All of them went home and hence, the firing activities at the Kilns were stopped. Upon receiving the edict, Tang Ying immediately summoned skillful potters (from Jingde Zhen) to his Customs Offices at Jiujiang. Under his personal supervision several different types of biscuits were produced together with matching designs, color and pattern. These were instantly sent to Jingde Zhen during the Chinese New Year and fired in non-official kilns with rushes and coarse forewood. After the firing, overglazed enamels were hastily applied overnight. A total of forty snuff bottles of different designs were fired and sent to the Capital by family servants. Tang Ying further remarked that as the pieces were produced hastily, he, fearing that the quality, glaze and shape might not be up to the expectation of the Emperor, did not charge the production expenses to governmental money, but he paid them out of his own pocket. He indicated in the memorial that he was waiting for comments from the Emperor so that he could follow them and make a larger production in the coming Spring when the potters came back from vacation. He could then charge the sum to the special vote designated by the Emperor from the income of the Jiujiang Customs Office.' Following edicts indicate that the Emperor was indeed satisfied and ordered that fifty snuff bottles be made every year from then on of this design. The popularity of the form at Court meant that this practice would have continued into the Jiaqing period, although exactly how many bottles were made each year at that point is not clear.

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