Page 72 - CHRISTIE'S Marchant Nine Decades of Chinese Art 09/14/17

MARCHANT: NINE DECADES IN CHINESE ART

728 A SUPERB WHITE JADE FACETED
SNUFF BOTTLE
This elegant and precisely faceted snuff bottle is closely
PROBABLY IMPERIAL PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, related to other bottles made of glass, which are often
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795) attributed to the Imperial Glassworks in Beijing. The style
appears to have developed under the infuence of European
The eight-sided bottle is decorated with one hundred and glass designs, but the present bottle is clearly of Chinese
twenty-eight shou (longevity) characters fnely incised in rows taste in both material and decoration. The simple design
above the angled foot, and the shoulder tapers to a circular of repeated carved shou characters complements the austere
neck and mouth. The stone is of white color with some fne form, which is nevertheless softened by the gently rounded
cloudy mottling. shoulders and spreading foot. The effect is harmonious
2º in. (5.7 cm.) high and appealing.

$15,000-20,000 A related dark green, opaque glass bottle, reminiscent of
spinach-green jade, with eight equal-sized facets is illustrated
PROVENANCE by Moss, Graham and Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff
Bottle, The J & J Collection, Vol. II, New York and Hong
Important collection, Middle East, acquired in Hong Kong, Kong, 1993, p. 560, no. 333, and was sold at Christie’s New
1950s. York, 30 March 2005, lot 65. Another faceted clear glass
snuff bottle is illustrated by R. Kleiner, The Nordic Butterfy
(detail) Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Part I, London p. 17, no. 8.
70
For two jade snuff bottles carved with multiple shou
characters in the Qing Court Collection, see The Complete
Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 47 - Snuff Bottles,
Hong Kong, 2003, pp. 151-52, nos. 228 and 229.

清乾隆 白玉百壽八方鼻煙壺