Bottle ID: 00667

ENAMELED FAMILLE ROSE, FIGURES W/LANDSCAPE SCENES

Date: 1780-1799

Height: 55 mm

Porcelain, hard paste, of flattened shield shape with mock mask and ring handles on the shoulders, and tapering to a flat base decorated in the famille rose palette with cobalt and gilding, within vignettes on one side with an official holding a pennant, looking at a boy dancing and holding up a lingzhi in his right hand, in a garden with pine trees and rockwork, with a pavilion in the background with a circular window; the reverse an official within the building holding the lingzhi, with one boy holding a vase of flowers and another with tea; surrounded by a border of underglaze cobalt-blue with gilded bats clasping a floral design; the base with an iron-red four character Qianlong nianzhi mark in seal script and of the period.

Imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Jingde Zhen.

Similar Examples:

Hughes, Michael C. The Blair Bequest - Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Princeton University Art Museum, 2002, p. 167, no. 206.

Provenance:

Hugh Moss [HK] Ltd.
A Private French Collection, September 2006

Exhibited:

Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007

The Qianlong Emperor died in 1799, four years after he had abdicated out of respect for his grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor. Although this bottle is unique in its style and form, it shows some similarities to other porcelain bottles produced in the latter part of Qianlong's reign and the early part of Jiaqing's reign. The scenes, which are taken from popular literature, are typical of a group of late Qianlong and Jiaqing wares. Many identical enamelled scenes occur with both Qianlong and Jiaqing reign marks, establishing their period. Withe the translation of the Imperial Archives of the Household Department at the Palace has come new and fascinating information relating to this. In 1798, 3rd year of the Jiaqing reign, 7th day, 10th month, the records state: "Twenty-two pieces of five color porcelain bowls with lotus design were sent to the Court from the Jiujiang Customs Office. Among them eleven pieces had Qianlong marks and the other eleven had Jiaqing marks. The Imperial order said 'Select eight pieces from the lot and send them to the Imperial Household Workshops to make matching stands. The rest of the pieces should be kept together with these lots from the routine annual orders for porcelain. Respect this.' Subsequently eight pieces were selected, four of which bore Qianlong marks and the other four had Jiaqing marks." At this time, during the late Qianlong into the Jiaqing reign, a style became popular which combined famillé rose enamels with underglaze blue designs detailed in gold enamel. This bottle reflects this style, but is a rare variation where the underglaze blue has been used as a monochrome ground. Apart from the porcelain bottle illustrated by Michael Hughes in The Blair Bequest no other bottle of this shape and style appears to be recorded.