清十八世紀末 / 十九世紀初 粉彩描金人物立像鼻煙壺三件

each moulded and painted, one in the form of an official holding a snuff bottle in his outstretched right hand, which sports a jadeite thumb ring, the inner section of his hat and its crowning button forming the stopper; the other two in the form of his wives or concubines, one Chinese (with bound feet and Chinese costume) holding a folded fan in her left hand and a pair of flowers in her right; the other Manchu (with unbound feet and platform shoes, wearing Manchu costume) holding a rigid oval fan decorated with painted orchids in her right hand and a pair of flowers in her left; a chignon of hair in each case forming the stopper

倫敦蘇富比1990年6月7日，編號277-279

《盈寸纖研 ─ 瑪麗及佐治伯樂鼻煙壺珍藏》，香港藝術館，香港，1994年，編號157
新加坡國家博物館，新加坡，1994-1995年
《Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch》，大英博物館，倫敦，1995年，編號207
以色列博物館，耶路撒冷，1997年

Clare Lawrence，〈London Auction Review〉，《國際中國鼻煙壺協會學術期刊》，1990年秋，頁24，圖7
Robert Kleiner，《Chinese Snuff Bottles》，香港，1994年，圖版9（僅男立像）
《國際中國鼻煙壺協會學術期刊》，1998年冬，封面
Carol Michaelson，〈The Use of Archaism as a Decorative Motif in Snuff Bottles〉，《國際中國鼻煙壺協會學術期刊》，2000年冬，頁15，圖47
Hugh Moss、Victor Graham 及曾嘉寶，《A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection》，卷6，香港，2007年，編號1226、1227及1228

All bottles are in very good overall condition. The female figure in the blue robe has a later replaced stopper and a restored right hand. The enamels and gilding are all in very good condition. The female in the turquoise robe is in very good overall condition with the gilding and the enamels all intact. The man is also in very good condition. All are missing their spoons. The actual colour of the bottle is slightly deeper and more saturated than the catalogue image.
"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."

This extraordinary set of three figures is matched by only a few other examples. A comparable man and Chinese woman are in the Chester Beatty Collection, illustrated in Jan Chapman, 'The Chester Beatty Collection of Snuff Bottles', Arts of Asia, March/April 1988, front cover and p.60, fig. 15.

In the Blair Collection is another example of the Chinese lady, see Michael C. Hughes, The Blair Bequest: Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Princeton University Art Museum, Baltimore, 2002, cat. no. 296. We can thus be certain that the Beatty, Blair, and Bloch examples represent at least three sets; if three sets can be attested, there might well have been more originally.

This unique surviving set of all three figures, complete with their original stoppers and in perfect condition, must represent the pinnacle of desirability in the field of moulded figural snuff bottles of the mid-Qing period. They are small, superbly modelled, and unusually well enamelled, with a good deal of over-painting to give the fabrics a textural richness.

The resemblance between the shape of certain snuff-bottle stoppers and the type of hat worn by emperor and officials alike at court in the Qing dynasty is fully exploited in the figure of the man. If we remove the inner portion of his hat, made up in real life of a series of red cords hanging down like thatch from the point where the hat button is fixed, we have a typical snuff-bottle stopper shape, complete with a gilt finial.