AN ENAMEL ON COPPER SNUFF BOTTLE

famille-rose and iron-red enamels on copper, of cylindrical form tapering to a short circular section foot and sloping to a slightly flared gilded mouth, painted with a continuous scene of boys at play in a garden, accompanied by a lady holding a baby, the stippled blue-gray sky accentuated with cloud swirls, between ruyi-head lappets at the shoulder and foot, and an archaistic scroll band at the neck, the base inscribed in blue enamel with a two-character seal mark jing zhi ('respectfully made')

Robert Hall.
White Wings Collection.
Robert Kleiner.

Snuff Bottles of the Ch'ing Dynasty, Hong Kong Museum of Art, October-December 1978, cat.no. 16.
'Tres Precieuses Tabatieres Chinoises', L'Arcade Chaumet, Paris, 4th-16th June, 1982, no. 248.

Robert Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles, London, 1987, p. 140, no. 70.
Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles, p. 18, fig. 2.2 and p. 14, fig. 2.1.
Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles: The White Wings Collection, Hong Kong, 1997, p. 10, no. 5.

The bottle is in good condition, with some of the enamel roughly finished at the edges of the mouth and foot.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present bottle belongs to a group that are very likely from the same workshop and may have even been by the same hand. Common characteristics include the identical bands of decoration around the neck, shoulder and foot, and feature children with ladies. Each of the bottles bear the unusual jing zhi, mark as opposed to similar ones bearing Qianlong reign marks (see lot 89).

For a related example, see Robert Kleiner,Treasures from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect: Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Denis Low, Hong Kong, 1999, pp. 10-11, no. 7; where the author notes: 'This attempt at a style so much associated with the Beijing Palace workshops, together with the unusual mark of respect on the base ...makes it likely that this group of enamelled snuff bottles were made to a specific Imperial order, whereas the ones with Qianlong reign-marks were perhaps part of the same batch but not part of the specific order.'