TABATIERE EN PORCELAINE CHINE, MARQUE QIANLONG, EPOQUE QIANLONG (1736-1795) OU POSTERIEURE

décorée sur une face d'un pêcheur dans sa barque entouré d'un paysage neigeux, l'autre face inscrite d'un poème et de cachets; bouchon en porcelaine en forme de chapeau officiel

Collection Schaetzen Herlaer
Collection Delbec, Belgium

 

Some wear to the gilding around the mouth rim and a minute pinhole to the left border of the bottle opposite the boat (visible on the illustration). Otherwise in very good condition. The colour of the bottle is less white, somewhat warmer than on the catalogue illustration.
"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."

The poem can be translated as follows "an old man wearing coat and rattan hat, on a lonely boat, fishing alone in the winter on the snowy river", the two seals on the left read Qianlong and the one on the right is the hall mark Leshan Tang (Hall of Delight in Goodness, Qianlong's princely residence)

This rare subject of a fisherman in a snowy landscape appears on a pair of Imperial Qianlong vases, exhibited and illustrated in  the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Stunning Decorative porcelains from the Ch'ie,n-Lung Reign, 2008, no.55, p.168. The design of the present bottle is very similar and has the same Hall mark at the right of the Imperial poem.

The flat shape is typical of the end of the 18^th and beginning of the 19^th century (cf a Famille Rose example in Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect III, no.183, p.214; and The Baur Collection, Chinese Snuff Bottles, Geneva 2007, p.176, no.H67 for an iron red and underglaze blue dragon Qianlong bottle)