A rare archaistic white jade 'Champion's Vase' double snuff bottle, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period

Gnam Collection.

Chinese Porcelain Company, New York, 1993.

Chinese Snuff Bottles and Jade Carvings from the Douglas, Gnam and Other Collections, Chinese Porcelain Company, New York, 1992, pl. 44.

Sam Bernstein, Chinese Jade the Immortal Stone. The Robert A. & Elizabeth Cookson Collection, San Francisco, 2009, pl. 51.

There are various ways of joining double bottles, but with its intricately carved kuilong dynamically crossing between two bottles, this item possesses a unique archaic charm that epitomizes the Qianlong Emperor's reverence for the past.

The unusual form of this bottle derives from an archaic bronze model termed 'champion's vase', which was produced as early as the Western Han dynasty (206 BC - AD 9) and may have been presented to champions of sports or combative contests. The model is most frequently - although still rarely - found in jade works of art, where the two vases are generally carved on the sides with pierced work for suspension, and with a cover carved from a single piece of jade.

Compare a fine example of a 'champion's vase' double snuff bottle formerly in the Mary & George Bloch Collection, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 23rd November 2014, lot 195.