清雍正 御製銅胎畫廣東琺瑯黃地「福壽雙全」圖花卉紋鼻煙壺 《雍正年製》款

銅胎畫琺瑯，兩面均繪蝙蝠翔飛拱團壽，下承蕃蓮綻放，通體黃地飾纏枝茶花，枝葉卷延。外底褐彩書「雍正年製」四字楷款。

Sotheby's New York, 6th April 1990, lot 295.
Collection of Joseph Baruch Silver.
Clare Lawrence, London.
Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd., 1992.

Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, The British Museum, London, 1995, cat. no. 18.
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1997.

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. 1130.

The gilding is mostly worn and there are some typical minor scratches from use. Otherwise the snuff bottle is in very good condition. The actual colours are consistent with the catalogue illustration, if not a little bit warmer.
"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 extraordinary quality of Yongzheng Canton production for the court is exemplified here, with masterly painting coupled with faultless technical perfection. The surface is miraculously flat and even, free of flaws, and every colour has fired to perfection, which was rarely possible at Beijing at the time. Technically, painted enamels on metal in China do not get any better than this.

One other feature that demonstrates the bottle's superior quality at the time it was made is the inner metal neck, which has been gilded as heavily as the rest of the exposed metalwork. This metal inner neck is sometimes found on snuff bottles, but on the majority of Beijing wares was usually quite short, extending no more than a millimetre or two inside the bottle, whereas here it is a liner covering the entire inner neck to a depth of half a centimetre. This custom began at the palace with such bottles as another example from the Bloch collection, sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 28th November 2011, lot 166, which has a deep inner neck liner, and it is possible that this Beijing feature was copied in the south at Canton.