A BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN 'BOYS WITH PEONIES' SNUFF BOTTLE QING DYNASTY, JIAQING / DAOGUANG PERIOD

Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd., 1999.

Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol. 6, Hong Kong, 2007, no. 1276.

Numerous surface scratches from wear. A small glaze bubble in the neck.
"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."

Despite its relative squatness, there are several links between this bottle and the pillar bottles represented by Sale 1, lot 134, suggesting a date from the earlier part of the century. It has the biscuit foot with concentric circles characteristic of the group and a widely flared neck with a broad, flat lip. If the height of the cylinder were doubled, and the children replaced by dragons, it would fit comfortably into the evolving group. The style and quality of the decoration also fit comfortably into the first half of the century, as does the material itself, which is of the huashi 滑石type of beige porcelain that allowed better control of underglaze pigments and encouraged crackled glazes. This was a popular alternative ceramic body during the first half of the nineteenth century.

The neck border here is clearly formalised lingzhi, resembling, as usual, the head of a ruyi-sceptre, although the diffusion of the cobalt into the glaze obscures the design to some extent. The artist, however, knew what he was doing and why, and he did it right. Later, this same band devolves into barely recognizable strip of cross-like squiggles, perhaps because successive blurring of the detail in the firing process, as can be seen here, gradually led to the simplification of the design and a loss of symbolic fluency, even if the audience still recognized the intention behind the pattern.