A EUROPEAN SUBJECT GUANGZHOU ENAMEL AND GILT BRONZE SNUFF BOTTLE

of truncated moonflask form, the two faces inserted with oval panels painted in famille-rose enamels, each featuring portraits of European women in front of European-style architecture, the gilt-bronze sides crisply cast with scrolling lotus, the cylindrical neck rising to a flared mouth, resting on a straight foot, the oval footrim enclosing a concave base incised with a four-character Qianlong nianzhi mark, the gilt-bronze stopper probably original

Robert Kleiner.
Joseph Baruch Silver Collection.
Clare Lawrence Ltd.

Patrick K. M. Kwok, 'The Joe Grimberg Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles', Arts of Asia, November-December 1993, p. 92, no. 4.

The gilt bronze is in good condition. There is pitting to the enamel surface, with extensive pitting visible on one panel. Some glaze pull at the edge of panels.
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.

Along with having a penchant for European subjects and style, the Qianlong court favored innovation and novelty, and the present bottle is an amalgam of these characteristics. It is likely that this bottle was made in Guangzhou for Imperial tribute as it shares a similar aesthetic with the Baroque-influenced gilt-metal clocks, which sometimes featured inserted enamel panels. See for example one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Tributes from Guangdong to the Qing Court, Hong Kong, 1987, p. 99, no. 83.

Very few bottles of this type are known. One, also with a Qianlong mark, is illustrated in Chinese Snuff Bottles: A Miniature Art from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, Hong Kong, 1994, p. 62, fig. 11. Another, of circular shape and without a mark, is illustrated in Bob C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York and Tokyo, 1976, no. 987.

It is interesting to compare the present lot with lot 172, which is similar is shape and composition, but with the European-subject enamel panels inserted within a cinnabar lacquer body.