Page 103 - March 15 2017 The Ruth and Carl Barron Collection

•454 454
AN ENAMELED MOLDED PORCELAIN ‘CICADA’ SNUFF (two views)
BOTTLE
JINGDEZHEN KILNS, 1790-1840 455
The bottle is molded in the round with realistic detail, with the 101
insect’s eyes and legs painted in black, its wings in aubergine
enamel and its thorax highlighted with yellow enamel stripes.

2¬ in. (6.7 cm.) high, agate stopper
$2,200-3,200

PROVENANCE

Robert Kleiner, Belfont Company Ltd., Hong Kong, 1996.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts,
no. 2055.

The group of molded porcelain cicada-form snuf bottles to
which this example belongs frst appeared in the early nineteenth
century. For another very similar example from the Caretti
Collection, see H. Moss, Chinese Snuf Bottles No. 5, p. 59, fg. 43.
See other examples and versions in Chinese Snuf Bottles No. 4,
p. 5, top, center; and R. Hall, Snuf Bottles IX, no. 8. The molded
porcelain model may have evolved from jade cicada-form bottles
which were popular at the Court during the eighteenth century.
See Moss, Graham Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuf Bottle: The
J & J Collection, 1993, pp. 44-5, nos. 7 and 8; and Moss, Graham,
Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuf Bottles, Vol. 1, pp.146-49,
nos. 58 and 59.

The cicada is a symbol of immortality because it has a long
life cycle of up to seventeen years. It also became a symbol of
extended youth and of happiness on account of its joyous chirping.
1790-1840年 瓷胎模印粉彩蟬形鼻煙壺

•455
AN ENAMELED PORCELAIN SNUFF BOTTLE
IMPERIAL, JINGDEZHEN KILNS, YONGLE TANG HALL
MARK, DAOGUANG PERIOD (1821-1850)
The bottle is decorated on each side with a katydid detailed in green,
yellow and black.

2º in. (5.7 cm.) high
$2,400-3,400

PROVENANCE

The Oriental Corner, 1997.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts, no. 2521.

Yongle tang, which may be translated as ‘made for the Hall of
Perpetual Joy,’ is a rare hall mark that occurs only on a small group
of Imperial bottles from the Daoguang period. It is usually seen on
bottles featuring the capture of Zhang Ge’er (Jahangir Khoja), and
some bottles with the katydid design.
清道光 御製粉彩蟈蟈紋鼻煙壺 礬紅「永樂堂」楷書款

(mark)